Dark Storms
by Skaar
Summary: Shadow's past has always been a mystery, even to him. Now, a great evil looms, and his past is the only thing that can stop it. Not exactly romantic, but kind of fluffy at times. Rated M for gore, most of the content is just rated T for language.
1. The Beginning

_Skaar: _Hi! I do not own any of the characters, character designs, or places in this chapter. Just the plot. This is my first story, and the only reason I'm posting it is because my friends made me...

_Shadow: _Fool, your friends are laughing at you right now.

_Skaar:_ Shut up... By the way, this story is supposed to be confusing for a while, so don't come whining to me if you don't get it at first.

* * *

On Mission Island, things were not going well. At least, not for this guard. _First that damn portal broke down, then the generator short-circuited, and then the radio broadcast tower broke down, NOW even the walkie-talkies don't work. What the hell's going on? _The guard slumped against the wall. _Not to mention my relief is late. Where is he? _The guard's eyes began to droop. He stifled a yawn. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he emitted a gurgle. As the guard collapsed, a short, black form stepped over his body. "Human!" The black form spit the word out with vile distain, as if it were a poison. The dying guard looked up at the apparition, and his eyes widened with horror. "Y- you're-!" he choked. The black form looked down with hateful disregard, and raised an axe. "For Aila." The axe swung down, finishing it's work.

* * *

"I'M SO BORED!!" Charmie Bee was careening around the outside of Central City's Sonicteam, screaming his head off. _Good, he's coming this way. _A dark form sat in the shadows, waiting for his prey to come near. In the background, Charmy's wails were drawing closer. 

"WHYHASN'TANYTHINGHAPPENEDYETIT'SSOBORINGWHYHASN'TEGGMANTRIEDTODESTROYSOMETHING! WHYHASN'TSOMEONE-oooof!" Charmy's incessant babbling was cut short by a foot to the face. "Killed you yet? I ask myself the same question every time I see you." A dark, menacing form stood with one foot on the stupid insect. Charmy looked up, fear evident in his eyes. "Sh-Sh-Shadow! I… um… PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!!!" Charmie squirmed under the crushing weight of Shadow's foot. " Hey Shad! I know ya hate 'em, but let the bug go!" Sonic the Hedgehog, founder of Sonicteam, came walking up from inside. Shadow growled and lifted his foot. Charmy happily flitted off, as if nothing had happened. Sonic smirked. "I swear he has the attention span of a goldfish." Shadow glared at Sonic. "Why did you make me do that? Just when I could have killed him..." Shadow began wringing his hands angrily, making it look like he was throttling someone. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Chill, Shad! Are the only emotions you feel anger and hate?" Shadow looked blankly at Sonic. "Yes." Sonic smirked again, and put an arm around Shadow's shoulder. "Yep, that's our Shad! Now how about you buy me a chili dog?" "No, and don't touch me." Shadow punctuated his command with a glare. Sonic began to sweat nervously, and stepped back. "Ehhehheh… o-okay then, so why do you think it is that Eggman hasn't attacked yet? By now he would have some crackpot scheme for world domination since last time. What could he- AAAH! A-A-Amy! The annoying pink hedgehog had seemingly popped up from out of nowhere. "Sonic! What a coincidence! Here Cream and I were buying groceries and we- Sonic? Sooonic?" The blue hedgehog was gone. "Oooh! He's so shy! It's so cute! Sooonic! I'll find you!" Amy began a fruitless search for her Blue Hero. Shadow smirked. _Amy's desperate, stalker-like personality never ceases to amaze me._ Meanwhile, Cream the rabbit came running up the road. "Hello Mr. Shadow!" She curtsied happily. Cream was one of the few people that Shadow didn't despise. He didn't like her either, but she was respectful and knew when to SHUT UP. "Hello Cream." "Mr. Shadow, why does Amy always act so weird when Mr. Sonic is around?" Oh, and she was innocent, too. "I can't explain myself. You'd have to ask her." Shadow said with a rare smirk. Suddenly Tails came running out of Sonicteam. "Sonic! Shadow! Get in here! It's really important!"

As they all gathered around Tail's computer, he began speaking frantically. "I was scanning the military alert frequency on my radio, when they ordered a code red lockdown! Basically, they want all-personnel evacuation of all bases! They only do that during nuclear threats, or during MAJOR enemy attacks! So far, my computer hasn't picked up any radiation, so Eggman must be invading a base. I think the base being attacked is Mission Island, where he activated Shadow." Sonic smiled. "Well, that's not very nice of him, is it? Shad, let's go teach him to play nicer!" Shadow was staring out the window, not paying attention. "If it is Eggman, he moves quickly." Sonic walked over and peered out in time to see a skyscraper collapse. "He's here already!?! But Mission island is so far away!" "Well, let's get started then." Ever calm, Shadow jumped out the window.

"Muahahahaha! The world will be mine!" Eggman crushed another building with his giant mech suit. Ten minutes later… "Urrrgh…" Sonic eventually located Eggman in the wreckage that used to be his latest invention (three of the ten minutes were spent searching). "Man, that was way too easy." Sonic said with a sigh. "Ah, well get up, you tub of lard. We've got some questions to ask you before we turn you in." Back at Sonicteam, the now very grumpy-looking tub of lard in question had been tied to a chair. "You fools! You'll never defeat me!" Sonic rolled his eyes. "Shut it, you windbag! What do you know about Mission Island's lockdown? We know that you were there, so spill it!" "You stupid hedgehog! How could I have been at Mission Island if I was here ten minutes later!" "How should I know? You tell _me_ how _you_ did it!" "NO! Even if I knew how to travel that fast, why would I tell you!?!" "You tub of lard!" "Deformed rodent!" "Pompous egg!" "Hyperactive, third-grade dropout!" by now, the usually cowardly Eggman had stood up, regardless of the fact he was tied to a chair, and was leaned over face to face with Sonic. Tails muscled in, shoving them apart. "Sonic! Instead of screaming your head off at him, why don't we take a lie detector test, to see if he's lying. Gosh, Sonic! I didn't think that even you would fall for a taunt like that!" Sonic rolled his eyes. "OH COME ON! You know how I am with insults. And waddaya mean, even me?" Shadow looked up. " Sonic, you're not exactly famous around Sonicteam for your prudent thinking." "Aw, shut it, Shad!" Shadow just grunted and grabbed Eggman. "Come on, Doctor. Prower, set up the polygraph in your lab downtown. Sonic, go with him." "But Shad, I-" Shadow sent another glare Sonic's way. "NOW." Sonic sweatdropped anime-style, and scurried out, knowing Shadow's temper for what it was.

Shadow checked to see that they were gone, then sat Eggman back in the chair. "Doctor, I know Sonic poses no threat to you physically, but that is only because of his humane streak. Now me, I would have no qualms about beating the answer to all of our questions out of you. You are going to answer them, either way. Now tell me how you got to Central City from Mission Island." Eggman knew that Shadow did not make idle threats. "I-I was never at Mission Island. The lockdown was caused by something else. When I heard about it, I thought that during the pandemonium I could take the city while you were on the island investigating the source." Shadow stared into his eyes. He could tell Eggman was not lying. "Fine." Shadow shoved Eggman out of the room and into the lobby. He untied him and led him out of Sonicteam, where he glared at him. "Although I will be reprimanded for this, I can't help feeling pity for you. Your grandfather created me, and your cousin helped me realize my purpose in life. You are a cruel, cowardly, man. But for Maria's sake, I will let you go." Shadow glared down at the ground. _Damn conscience. _Eggman made a hasty retreat.

"Where's Eggman?" back at Tails' lab, the polygraph was all set up. "He escaped." Sonic smirked. Eggman could never have just escaped from Shadow. Shadow must have let him go because of Maria. Sonic knew that her death had wounded him deeply, and he had always blamed himself. _Must've felt like he owed Eggman. Like Eggman cared._ Shadow glanced over at the polygraph. "Besides, he was telling the truth. The good doctor had nothing to do with Mission Island." Sonic and Tails blinked a few times. "Huh?" Sonic was the first to speak up, and Tails unleashed a babble of questions afterward. "How do you know? Wouldn't Eggman lie about something like that? If it wasn't him, than who was at Mission Island?" Shadow looked up at Sonic. "Well Prower, why don't we find out?" Tails perked up. "Great idea, Shadow! I'll go get the _Tornado_ set up!"

The trio was soaring above the water in no time, much to Sonic's dismay. Tails could fly and Shadow didn't need to breathe as much as normal people, but Sonic was dead if they crashed. "Tails, can't you fly a bit further up from the water?" "You know, Sonic, It's safer in the back cockpit than on the wing." Sonic frantically crawled into the cockpit, only to jump out again. "WHAT THE HECK!?! Tails, your cockpit seat is moving!" They all looked to the seat to find Amy and Cream cramped in it. Because the rear cockpit was higher than the wings and front cockpit, not even Shadow had noticed them there. "Amy? Cream!?! H-how did you get in there?" Tails looked nervous. Then again, He had an obvious crush on Cream. So obvious, in fact, that Cream was the only person in Sonicteam who didn't know about it. Shadow was starting to get suspicious that the feeling was mutual. Amy smiled happily. "Hi, Sonic!" "Amy, what are you doing here!?!" Amy looked at Tails. "Oh, when we saw Sonic and Shadow helping you set up the Tornado, Cream and I got back here so we could come, too!" Shadow looked at Cream. She did not look like she had gone along willingly. "Do you even know where we're going?" Amy blinked a few times. "Um, no, not really." Even Shadow had to suppress a smirk at her stupidity. Tails rolled his eyes. "Well, no turning back now. We're here."

The base showed no sign of life. As they landed the plane, they noticed the radio tower was not responding. Most likely because the top half of the tower was gone. Tails stared in awe. "Eggman couldn't do that." Cream and Cheese hugged on to Amy fearfully. "Amy, I'm scared!" "Chao, Chao!" Shadow was on the alert. "We're being watched." Sonic started looking around. "Where?" "To the left. On top of the building, I think." They looked to the side. A shadowed form shot out of their view. "He's there, alright. Whoever that is responsible for the base lockdown. I don't know who or what it is, but it's not friendly. Amy, Cream, stay here in the Tornado. Sonic, you and I should split up and come at him from both sides." "Ok, Shad!" As Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the plane, the dark form watched.

* * *

_Skaar: _Before you say ANYTHING about how cliche it was, remember It was rushed and my first story. If that is not a good enough excuse, PLEASE Flame me! I want to get better at this! But, If you like it, please review!

_Shadow:_ NOW!!!!

_Skaar:_... Disturbing...


	2. Mission Island

_Skaar: _Well, this chapter is ok, but I might have been able to do better if not rushed by those "Friends" I mentioned before. I'm actually on chapter five, but I'm stuck, so I'll be spreading out the chapters in hopes of finishing it in time.

_Sonic:_ Skaar does not own any characters, places, etc. In this chapter. only the plot and the creepy ominous hedgehog.

_Shadow:_ Creepy? Hah! he will die slowly!

_Skaar:_ Shadow hasn't taken his anger management classes for a few weeks...

_

* * *

_

_Recap:_ "He's there, alright. Whoever that is responsible for the base lockdown. I don't know who or what it is, but it's not friendly. Amy, Cream, stay here in the Tornado. Sonic, you and I should split up and come at him from both sides." "Ok, Shad!" As Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the plane, the dark form watched.

* * *

Sonic stalked around the building, never letting his eye leave the black form on the roof. Sonic knew that whatever it was knew he was there. _If that thing moves, I'd better be ready to charge._ Sonic stumbled on some wreckage from the radio tower, and broke eye contact with the form. When he looked up, the black thing was gone. _Crap! Where is it!?! _Sonic looked around, but could not see it. Somewhere behind him, metal creaked. Sonic looked back, but saw the same lifeless scene that was there before. _If the base is abandoned, what happened to all of the people? There isn't a single trace of life anywhere. If they're dead, then where are the bodies?_ Sonic looked back in front of him and found himself staring into a pair of piercing, golden eyes. 

Shadow was confused. One moment, the dark from was almost close enough to see. The next, it had disappeared into thin air. _Damn! Where could it have gone!?! _Shadow ground his foot against the concrete roofing angrily. Just as Shadow had jumped onto the roof of the building to attack, the black form had disappeared, as if it were never there. All he knew about the creature was it wore a black, hooded cloak, and was about his size. _Well, at least I know it's not human._ Shadow glanced at the radio tower's wreckage._ Though, that seemed pretty obvious anyway._ Suddenly, Shadow's sixth sense alerted him to another presence. Shadow smirked. _For the alleged "fastest creature alive", Sonic took long enough._ "Sonic, it's too late. Whatever it was has left." "Sonic? I'm not Sonic!" Amy came into full view. Shadow sighed quietly. "Amy, I-" "I know, I know! Stay in the plane with Cream and Tails and be careful! But my Sonniku was gone so long, I got worried, and had to see what was going on." Shadow rolled his eyes. Amy's obsession with Sonic was going to get her killed one day. "You do realize that you just left two children who've not even been alive a full decade in one of the most dangerous places there is? Alone, with no protection?" Amy gasped. "Omygosh! I'm so stupid! I've got to get back!" Amy turned and ran back towards the _Tornado_. Shadow saw a black blur fly into the air. "Amy! Stop! Get back here!" "Why?" When she got to the edge of the roof, she screamed and fell over. The black form had appeared in front of her, crouched from his landing. For the first time, Shadow could see it full on.

It, or he, was a hedgehog, black and violet in color. He carried a black axe of average size, which seemed to be made of some otherworldly substance similar to water. His frame was well built, muscular and lean. His spikes were arranged in a strange formation similar to Shadow's, but longer. There was something about him that gave Shadow a feeling of familiarity. At the same time, though, he exuded an aura that was not of this world, something Shadow had never experienced. But the most unsettling thing about him were his eyes. They were a strange shade of amber, that seemed to swirl and glow like molten lava. His right eye had a black triangle mark in the corner, stretching to his temple. His left had an ivy vine tattoo that almost went to his ear. His whole body emitted a feeling of power, superiority, and darkness. As the hedgehog stood up, his cloak swirled about him in a dramatic fashion. "Get out of my way." His voice was dark and slightly gravelly. He pushed the dumbstruck Amy to the side. Shadow and the hedgehog exchanged glares. "Who are you? Where are the guards?" "Why would these humans matter to you, Shadow?" Shadow had to conceal his surprise. "How do you know my name?" Shadow almost gaped. Almost. The hedgehog looked annoyed. "You fool. Your memory is as good as your manners." "My memory was lost, long ago." "If anything it seems the humans took that too, along with your awareness and common sense." They glared at each other again, slowly increasing intensity, as if to see who would look away first.

Amy stared at the two nearly identical forms. _Wow, you can practically feel the force thrown off from their glares colliding. It's like watching Shadow glare at a mirror. Except the mirror hasn't cracked yet. _Suddenly a thought came to mind, and Amy broke the spell. "Hey, where's Sonic?" "Who?" Within the time it took the hedgehog to say that one word, Amy had had exactly 172.5 images pass through her brain of things that the black hedgehog could have done to Sonic, most of them either physically impossible or just plain** stupid**. Amy's eyes glowed with an intense flame as she charged forward at her foe. "YOU'D BETTER NOT HAVE HURT MY SONNIKU!!!" She pulled out her piko-piko hammer and delivered a mighty blow. Sadly, the drama of the moment became null and void the moment the hedgehog was struck, as it merely bounced off of his rock-hard head and made a loud squeaky noise. Amy sweatdropped and nervously stepped back. "Eh-heh-heh-heh… sorry?" The black hedgehog (yes, he'll be called that for quite a while yet in the story) ignored her and looked back at Shadow with hateful eyes. "If you can't remember who I am, you're of no use to me." With that, he leapt from the rooftop and landed on top of the ruined COM tower. "Find me," he yelled to Shadow. "If you remember what the humans did to us I will make you realize your hatred to their sorry race." With that, he was gone in a cloud of black mist, swept off by the wind.

Shadow was left gaping. _What the humans did to me? What does he mean? But most of all, who was he?_ Amy came up next to him. "Wow, I wish I could jump like that guy. That way, I could surprise Sonic and catch him!" Shadow remembered he wasn't alone, and regained his composure. Just then, they heard another voice. "By my calculations, that was a fifty foot wide and twenty five foot vertical jump. Way too far for myself, or even Sonic. What about you, Cream? Is that too far to fly to?" "Um…I don't think I could make it before my ears got tired." Shadow and Amy whirled around. "Cream!" "Tails!" Amy exploded. "Hey! Didn't I tell you to STAY IN THE PLANE?!?" Tails held his hands up in defense. "W-we got worried after you left and Cream was getting jumpy, so we decided to look for you guys to see what was going on." Amy had let off most of her steam already, and was in just enough of a good mood to tease. "Oh, REALLY? Well, **I **think that you just decided to come look for us because YOU were getting jumpy about being alone with Cream."

The heated argument that followed had absolutely no effect on Shadow, who was too busy brooding in his thoughts. _How did he know about my past? He seemed so familiar… Damn, this adds up to many a night tossing and turning. _"Mr. Shadow? We're leaving." "Hm?" Shadow looked up and saw Cream standing near the roof's edge. "Oh, alright." The walk back to the Tornado is not worth describing, since it was just more arguing, more distracted brooding and Cream stuck in the middle. The takeoff is where it starts to get interesting. As the flaps adjusted and the throttle kicked in, Amy called out the safety checklist while Tails adjusted the workings of the _Tornado_. "Engines?" "Check." "Wing flaps?" "Check." "Propeller?" "Check." "Throttle?" "Check." "Full tank of whatever-powers-this-weird-plane-thingy?" "Check, and it works on gas just like any other plane." "Seat belts?" "Check." "You have a HUUUUUGE crush on Cream?" "Ch- Hey! I do not!" Amy giggled madly, but Shadow noticed Cream had been listening and looked a little sadder. As they took off, Amy blinked. "Hey… aren't we forgetting something?"

They found Sonic bound and gagged near the COM tower. He was mad that they had forgotten him, but in relatively good physical condition. Shadow was a little confused as to why the black hedgehog had not just killed Sonic, but eventually dismissed it. Back at the _Tornado_, Tails took off and circled the island once to gain height. As they passed over the base, Shadow's keen eyes saw a trace of movement. "PROWER!" Tails nearly jumped out of the plane in fright. "AAAH! WHAT?!?" "Land the plane and get inside the base, and hurry up!" I think I saw a survivor." With that, Shadow jumped off of the plane. "Shadow!" When Tails landed the plane, Shadow was waiting for them. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!? You jumped off of a plane with no parachute or anything! What were you… hey, why are you still ok?" "Prower, in case you've forgotten I fell from the Ark to Earth and survived. That was like jumping off of the sidewalk to me." "Eh-heh-heh-heh… that's only slightly creepy… Oh, did you find any survivors? I brought my-" Tails lugged up a huge suitcase with a red cross on it. "-Medical kit." "Shadow shook his head. "The only survivors are delirious, babbling on about the Black Death, or something." "And the others?" Shadow bowed his head. "All of them are…dead."

* * *

_Shadow:_ What?!? He didn't die slowly?!? RAAAAAAAH! (_kills charmy)_

_Skaar: _Thank you! He wouldn't DIE!

_Sonic_: Hey, why did **I** get tied up!?!

_Skaar:_ I'm sorry to be the one who tells you this... I think Shadow is cooler than you._(Sonic faints)_

_Shadow: _MUAHAHAHAHA!

_Skaar:_ Disturbing... Well, there was chapter 2, please review!

_Amy: _Hey, that rhymed!

_Skaar: _Where the heck did you come from?!? You're not one of the muses for this chapter!


	3. The Jungle

_Skaar:_ Hi again! In THIS chapter, All I own is the plot, as usual.

_Tails: _If you owned the rest of it, we'd be in deep trouble...

_Skaar: _What?!? It's not like I'm a creepy fangirl or anything! I'm a guy!

_Tails:_ With a mind like yours...

_Skaar:_ Shut up... AH! Shadow, get off my friend's World of Warcraft account!

_Shadow: _Hah! Die you Alliance fools!

* * *

_Recap:_ Oh, did you find any survivors? I brought out my-" Tails lugged up a huge suitcase with a medical sign on it. "-Medical kit." "Shadow shook his head. "The only survivors are delirious, babbling on about the Black Death, or something." "And the others?" Shadow bowed his head. "All of them are…dead."

* * *

Cream gasped. "Dead?" "Yes. Stacked up in a pile, at least a hundred and twenty five guards all killed by slash or stab wounds." Cream hid behind Sonic, who also had to catch Amy as she fainted. "Dead? All of them? At least a hundred guards, Shad? The only thing that hedgehog had on him was that weird axe. Isn't exactly easy to believe." Tails rushed in to tend to the wounded. Shadow stared over at Cream, who was attempting to wake up Amy by fanning her with her ears. "Well, believe it, because I saw it with my own eyes. You know, Sonic? Cream is taking this surprisingly well. Isn't this the first time she's heard about death of this caliber?" Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. She's been around Sonicteam so much, I guess violence doesn't scare her quite as much as it used to anymore." Sonic chuckled. "Y'know? I think Amy pretended to faint like that just so I could catch her. She's heard stuff like this before." Tails came out, looking grim. "About twenty survivors, and maybe five will live through the night. That's only if we get them to the hospital right NOW." Shadow shook his head. "There's no time for that. Tell the navy that we've secured Mission Island, and make sure they send a medic CORPS. I'm going to see if I can get any sense out of the live ones. 

_These humans are useless. The ones that are conscious are just babbling. _Shadow stomped his foot on the concrete. _That hedgehog knows how to leave no trace._ He heard Tails calling his name. "Hey, Shadow! Come help me with this guy. He's HUGE!" Shadow saw Tails doing his best to drag a rather large unconscious man out of some rubble. With a slight tug, Shadow pulled the man out by the scuff of his shirt. _This one escaped his axe. Looks like the most damage done was from the roof collapsing on him. A few broken ribs, but other than that, a sturdy man like this should be fine._ As Shadow laid him down, the big soldier winced, and cracked an eye open. "Hey, you're one of those "Sonicteam" people, aren't you?" _Broken ribs alright. From the weakness of his voice, I'd say around the lungs. _"Yes, I am. You're ribs are broken so don't stress yourself. Tails, this one is conscious." Shadow stood to leave, but the man pulled him down. "He came from the Valley of Chaos. That's why the portal broke down first, because it was closest when he came out." Shadow blinked. "What?" before the man could say more, Tails rushed over. "Thanks, Shadow. Can you prepare the _Tornado _for us? I'd rather leave before GUN gets here and blames us for this."

The plane ride back was spent in silence, each Sonicteam member left to his or her own thoughts. But as the plane passed over Station Square, something went wrong. "WAAH!" The plane shook side to side. Shadow had to catch Tails as he fell out of the cockpit. Cream screamed as Cheese was thrown out of her hands, and Sonic and Amy had to hold her back before she blew away, too. "Hey Tails, what the heck is going on up there!?!" Amy had to yell over the sounds of the plane's engines spitting out exhaust. Tails struggled back into the cockpit with Shadow's help. "I don't know! The _Tornado _is sustaining massive damage in the power core, and the landing gear is totaled! We've gotta land, but if we land here we might hurt someone! I'll see if I can make it to the Mystic Ruins before the engines go out entirely, but hold on!" As the _Tornado_ began to drop in altitude, Shadow and Sonic prepared for an Emergency Crash Landing. "Sonic, this turbulence is throwing the _Tornado_ off track! If Tails can't stabilize the plane, we might have to take Amy and Cream and jump."

Sonic was really worried now. One: because if they drifted over the ocean, he was history. Two: Shadow was calling Tails by his nickname instead of "Prower" which usually meant they wouldn't get out of this alive, in Shadow's opinion. Three: If they did have to jump ship, he'd get stuck saving Amy again. The more he did that, the more she looked up to him. The more that she looked up to him, the less she'd act like herself around him. The actual her was the tolerable Amy. The nice Amy. The Amy that he actually enjoyed the company of. _Grr! Why the heck am I thinking about Amy at a time like this! _Sonic mentally socked himself in the gut. _Okay… now focus… what's Shadow's plan to get out of this again?_ "Sonic! Pay attention, we're at two hundred feet and minutes from crashing and you're daydreaming about Amy! Now, get ready…" Sonic flinched. _How the heck does Shadow do that!?! _Suddenly Tails yelled. "Jump, NOW!" The whole party jumped from the plane with Cream between Tails and Shadow in case the wind caught in her ears, and Sonic stuck with guess who? Amy.

The _Tornado_ roared by to as it careened toward a clearing twenty feet below. The various Sonicteam members ended up falling through the jungle's canopy quite a ways away from the _Tornado_, leaving the two parties bruised, scratched and lost, but alive. "Owwwww… Does anyone know where the heck we are?" Sonic had fared the worst, because Amy had landed on top of him. "Well," Tails started. "my watch has GPS installed on it…" Everyone (Except for Shadow) brightened up. "but my watch was on the plane cockpit's seat." Everyone except Sonic groaned. "Hey, the _Tornado_ crashed nearby, right? So maybe the watch survived the crash somehow and we can use the GPS to get out of here!" Tails shrugged. "Well, it's the best plan we've got. I doubt it survived the crash, but who knows?" Amy looked around. "Ummmmm… hey guys? Which way did the plane go?" The long silence that followed that question was unnerving.

Eventually, Cream piped up. "I think it went that way!" She pointed to a small column of smoke rising above the trees. Tails visibly slumped. "Ooooohhhhh… the _tornado_ must be in pretty bad shape. It'll take days to repair once we get out of here." Cream was sad, too. "Cheese got blown away during the crash…sniffle I hope he's okay…" Sonic patted her on the head. "Ah, Cheese is a tough little guy. I'll betcha he's waiting at the _Tornado_ for ya right now. Don't worry about it." Shadow almost chuckled._ Cream didn't even whimper when we found all of those people in the Mission Island main building, but the temporary separation of her and Cheese almost makes her bawl. What a funny little world it is…_

Shadow glanced over towards the smoke. "Well, it's quite a ways to go if we have to walk, so we'd better start now." Sonic was annoyed. "Wadda ya mean, walk?!? Shad, you and I could get over there and search that thing, get the watch and get back in no time flat!" Shadow glanced over his shoulder at Sonic. "We ARE walking because we're taking Amy, Tails, and Cream with us, not to mention your ankle is swollen." Sonic jumped to his feet. "It is No-Oooowwww!" Sonic fell down on his rear end again and inspected his ankle. "Oh, well so it is!" Amy rolled her eyes and helped Sonic up, using her shoulder for him to put pressure on. "What would you do without me, Sonniku?" She giggled madly and Sonic blushed. _They act like they're in fifth grade. Fools._ Shadow glanced back ahead of them. "If you two are done, we should move out now." "Yes, SIR!" Sonic faked a military salute, then limped onward.

They reached the _Tornado _by nightfall with only nine awkward situations between Sonic and Amy, and three awkward silences between Cream and Tails. Shadow rolled his eyes as he looked back on the day. _I don't get it. What's with all this lovey-dovey-she-likes-him-and-vice-versa crap? It's rather obvious that Sonic likes Amy and Cream likes Tails, so why be so concealed and annoying with these "crush" things, as Amy calls them? Oh well, things as foolish as romances aren't my area of expertise anyway._ "Crud, the watch is broken! Grrr, stupid piece of junk!" Sonic punted the watch into the jungle with his good foot without realizing this put his full weight on his bad foot. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" as he collapsed, Amy rushed to his side. "Sonic!" Tails groaned. "The _Tornado_'s totaled! We must have been hit by some sort of land-to-air missile or something!" Cream just sat next to Shadow, trying to see Cheese on the horizon. "Mr. Shadow? Do you think Cheese is really okay?" Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yes, just fine Cream." "I'm just worried, that's all…" "Perfectly understandable."

Eventually, the group calmed down enough to survey their situation. Sonic was trying to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together. "I wonder what's going on at Sonicteam right now. I hope they're not worried about us." At that moment, Rouge was off stealing something, Espio and Vector were on a job, Vanilla was housecleaning, Big was drooling into a cup, who really cares what Froggy was doing, and Charmie was throwing a party with his bee friends (he had Friends!?!). Needless to say, they weren't worried. "Sonniku, why don't you give up on the fire? By the time you light those stupid things, we'll all be asleep anyway." "Yeah, you're right Amy." Sonic tossed the sticks to the side.

Tails had adapted to living in the outdoors quite handsomely, and was curled up in a ball, fast asleep. Cream was snuggled up beside him, drooling slightly with her eyes shut tight, as she used him as a pillow. Amy pulled a rather large leaf from a tree and managed to cover them both with it. "Aaaaawwwww… they're so cute!" Shadow glanced over at them and grunted. "Hm. Well, if we're going to get out of this mess anytime soon, we'd better be just as rested as them in the morning. You two should try to sleep too." Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Yeah. Well, MOM, should I brush my teeth too?" Amy burst out laughing, before going to find a spot to sleep. Shadow glared expectantly at Sonic. "When I said "try to sleep", I meant; "Either go to sleep NOW or wake up two days from now with a headache." In the background, Amy burst out laughing again. "WAHAHAHAHA! Y-you do sound like his mom!"

Eventually, Shadow was the only one awake. _Ah, I can hear myself think again. Today was a full day. Who was that black hedgehog with a cloak? He knows all about my missing past, I'm sure of it. I wonder… _Shadow closed his eyes. _…Ah. Those are thoughts for another day… _So on they slept, dirty, sore and weak, our heroes had the reprieve of sleep. They were going to need it.

* * *

_Skaar:_ One of my more comedic chaps... REVIEW, OR ELSE SHADOW WILL KILL ALL OF YOUR WORLD OF WARCRAFT CHARACTERS!

_Shadow: _MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

_Tails: _WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?! I'M NEVER APPEARING AS YOUR MUSE AGAIN!

_Skaar:_ Tails... I'm sorry... and to all my fans, (not that I have any) and all of the Shadow fangirls,(the numbers are endless) I apologize for Shadow's... actions. I will attempt to fix them, but there's only so much therapists and prozac can do for a hedgehog...

_Shadow: _I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT!

_Skaar:_ ...Disturbing...


	4. The Emerald Keeper's Grand Appearance

_Skaar:_ I have a review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_Shadow:_ Skaar does not own anything but the plot and the weird mythology he made up for this chapter.

_Skaar:_ I HAVE A REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_Knukles:_ Okay Skaar, you have a review. Now, It's time to take your sedative...

* * *

_Recap_: Eventually, Shadow was the only one awake. _Ah, I can hear myself think again. Today was a full day. Who was that black hedgehog with a cloak? He knows all about my missing past, I'm sure of it. I wonder… _Shadow closed his eyes. _…Ah. Those are thoughts for another day… _So on they slept, dirty, sore and weak, our heroes had the reprieve of sleep. They were going to need it.

* * *

Shadow woke up as charming as ever. There was a _beautiful_ sunrise, and the songbirds were awakening and beginning to rejoice the new day with their melodious symphony. Shadow felt like shooting one of the noisy little bastards. _Damn this vile jungle!_ Shadow grimaced as he scraped sap off of his Army Grade Glock 9mm 45 caliber pistol. (Never leave home without one, kids!) A particularly large spider was crawling all over Amy's sleeping body. With a smirk, Shadow decided to leave it there. It was a Tarantula, which is not capable of biting larger life forms, but Shadow bet Amy didn't know that. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, so Shadow had a few precious hours before the others woke up. He used this spare time to sift through the wreckage of the Tornado. What he found was disturbing. As Tails had guessed, a land-to-air missile hit the plane. He found a piece of a metal plate from the missile embedded in the wing, which was inscribed with the charred letters UN._ GUN! Why must they always shift the blame to us! Damn the human government! _Shadow's eyes widened as he realized how close that was to what that other hedgehog had said. Shadow heard someone shifting, and quickly composed himself.

By midmorning, almost all of the little party was awake. Tails was an early riser, and had woken up almost immediately after Shadow. In fact, the only one who hadn't woken up around that time was Amy, who was still snoring quietly. Sonic was groaning. "Gah! I'm hungry! What's there to eat around here anyway?" Tails rolled his eyes. "And so ends Sonic's bodily update, now replaying every half hour. Gosh, Sonic! Can't you think of anything but food at a time like this?" Sonic blinked, then Tails added slyly, "and Amy, of course." Sonic's eyes widened, and he stuttered out a long trail of illiterate gibberish. Eventually Sonic glared back, and threw in his own insult. "What about you and Cream cuddled up together last night? If you say it was to keep warm, I'll strangle you!" Before Tails could stutter out his own gibberish, they were interrupted by a scream. **_YEEEEK!!_** Amy was up, and had found the spider.

As they had no idea where they were, the group's main navigation system was Sonic pointing in a random direction and yelling, "THIS WAY!" They obviously were lost. Sonic was limping as fast as physically possible, Amy was complaining about the jungle's effect on her hair and nails, Tails was muttering darkly, and Cream was on the verge of tears. "Poor Cheese…sniffle" After a while, Tails tried to comfort her, but to no avail. Their blind wanderings continued, and eventually Sonic saw a familiar blue horizon up ahead. "Hey! Look! The ocean! If this is the Mystic Ruins, we might be able to get Knuckles to lead us out! His temple thingy is by the ocean, right? YAHOOO!!!"

Sonic hobbled forward as fast as he could. Amy went to follow, but Tails and Shadow held her back. "Hey! What are you guys doing!?!" Tails smirked. "Just wait." Sonic glanced back at them. "Whatcha standing around for!?! Here's our-" Sonic was suddenly flung fifteen feet into the air. Amy gasped, Shadow smirked, and Tails collapsed laughing. "SONNIKU!" Sonic came falling down to earth with a yell, and stopped inches from the ground. That was when he noticed the thin wire attached to his good foot. Sonic gaped. "WHAT THE HECK!?!" Amy whirled about and faced Tails and Shadow. "You two KNEW that was going to happen, didn't you?" Tails staggered to his feet, clutching his ribs. "Wahahaha… Shadow and I taught Knuckles how to use tree snares last time we met him, and he employed them into his defenses." Sonic scowled. "Ya could've told me that before I walked into one!" Suddenly Sonic fell from the tree as the wire was cut. Knuckles walked into the clearing and smirked. "You're lucky I recognized your voice, or I might have used you as a piñata." Sonic growled. "Bah! I could take you on upside down AND with one hand behind my back!" Nevertheless, Sonic looked glad to see him.

Knuckles practically had to carry Sonic back to the Master Emerald. With two screwed up ankles, (the wire trap had popped the other one out of its socket) Sonic was pretty much immobile. During the walk, Shadow somehow was talked into giving Cream a piggyback ride to spare her feet. Tails and Amy lead the procession, leaving Knuckles and Shadow wondering if this was how pack mules felt. As they pressed on, Shadow debriefed (Shut up, you perverts) Knuckles on their predicament. When he was done, Knuckles nodded slowly. "Well, that explains a lot. Four days ago, Tikal appeared from the Master Emerald. You know what that means." Shadow grimaced. _Chaos is back_. Knuckles continued on, supporting Sonic's futile attempts to walk on his own. "My guess is that this black hedgehog guy is tied into this Chaos thing pretty deeply. But if he is, Tikal can help, right?" Shadow tripped, swore, and then kept going. "No one knows for sure except for Tikal. Knuckles, do you know what the "Valley of Chaos" is?" Knuckles seemed to grow distant, and almost ran into a palm tree. "Knuckles?" Knuckles shook his head, and glanced back at Shadow. "Hm-what? Oh, the Valley of Chaos is part of an ancient religion in my clan. I cannot possibly imagine how you heard of it. Only clan members know what it is." Shadow glared. "GET TO THE POINT. What is the Valley of Chaos?"

Knuckles sighed heavily. "…The Valley of Chaos is an ancient place, made with the joint forces of the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds, and Chaos himself. It is Heaven and Hell, all put into one place. In the Valley the King of Death, our form of the Devil, rules the land through the _Gaia Hara_, which roughly translates into either Blighted Land or Rotten Ground depending on which dialect of the Old Tongue you are using. The _Gaia Hara _is an area where the earth is gray and cracked and any thing that comes into contact with it literally has the life force sucked out of it. It grows and shrinks like a living creature, and consumes all it touches. The King of Death manipulates the Blighted Land like a puppet master, and it is said Demons arise from the earth to do his bidding. Souls of the Damned wander this area, searching for blood and flesh to stem their lust for death. But in the very center of the Blighted Lands, there is a place that's at least a million square miles where the Souls of the Pure may rejoice and feast all day. This area is atop an enormous plain on which the King of Death has no power. It is said that the apocalypse will come on the day the King of Death swallows the entire valley and enters the mortal world." Knuckles hesitated. "It is also said that the Valley of Chaos is the last resting place of my clan, and that we shall all perish on the grounds of Heaven in a final war against the King of Death, his demons, and the souls of the Damned. But our efforts will be rewarded with eternal paradise and the rebirth of our clan, along with the rebirth of Earth itself. Of course, the biggest problem is no one knows what the King of Death looks like in his true form, so no one can predict when he will escape, or if he already has." Knuckles sighed again. "Do you have any more of an idea now?"

Sonic stared blankly at Knuckles. "Wow. Echidnas are weird. Is your religion really that complicated? And that corny?" Knuckles dumped Sonic angrily on the ground. "You little-" Shadow cut in before Sonic and Knuckles killed each other. "Knuckles, a guard on Mission Island told me that the black hedgehog was from the Valley of Chaos. How is that possible?" Knuckles blinked. "It isn't. All of the ways to the Valley of Chaos from this dimension were blocked and scattered across the world." Shadow looked down at the ground. "Then how…" _If it really is true, is he from the heaven side or hell side?_ _Either way, how can we take him down if he has something to do with the divine forces? _Knuckles looked up. "Ah! We're here!"

When they got to the Master Emerald Tikal was there, just as Knuckles had said. _Chaos… I wonder what he has to do with this?_ Shadow lightly pulled Cream off of his shoulders, as she had fallen asleep sometime during the walk. Tikal seemed to be asleep as well, so he set Cream next to her. "She's been like that since she appeared. Never woken up once." Shadow glanced back at Knuckles. "That's strange. I wonder why." Knuckles helped Sonic sit down, and then grasped his ankle. "Personally, I think it has something to do with Chaos. Tikal seems to have some sort of link to him." Knuckles twisted Sonic's ankle sharply, and paid no attention to the sharp crack and resounding scream that followed. Shadow went to sit, and with a grimace pulled his gun out from under himself and took a more comfortable position. "Well, you're the one who would know, Knuckles. You've spent more time with the Master Emerald than anyone else alive."

The small group spent the next three hours doing various things. Once Cream woke up, She and Amy went searching for Cheese, who they found hiding by the Master Emerald. The emotional reunion made Shadow's eye twitch. Tails mostly just sat there grumbling, but as it got darker he made a hammock out of a paper clip, some pocket lint, five strands of hair from each tail, and a dead fish on the beach. (I have NO idea how, I wasn't there. You wanna know how, ask him, not me.) Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow discussed what to do about Mission Island, GUN, and most of all, the other, nameless hedgehog. While the others went to bed, those three stayed up talking till at least two in the morning. Eventually they went to bed but all of them, even Knuckles, had dreams plagued by a pair of glowing amber eyes.

* * *

_Skaar:_ Now I'm sad... I gotta finish Chapter Five, but I'm STUCK! RAAAAAAAH! (_kills charmy)_

_Shadow:_ Muahahahahahahahhaha!!!!

_Knuckles: _I just figured it out! When they get annoyed or kill Charmy,(_maniacal laughter in the backround)_ they go crazy! I KNEW Shadow's Prozac should have kicked in by now!

_Skaar:_ Well, there's chapter four... Please review!


	5. Looking back

_Skaar: _Well, I DID IT! I managed to get unstuck in one day! But this chapter signifies the beginning of a new school year, so this may be the last time I post daily. I'll probably have to post every 2-4 days, maybe even more... by the way, I have a profile!

_Tikal: _Skaar does not own anything in this story but the plot, my monolouge, and Skaar.

_Skaar:_ Yay! I own myself!

_Shadow:_ Psycho...

* * *

_Recap: _Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow discussed what to do about Mission Island, GUN, and most of all, the other, nameless hedgehog. While the others went to bed, those three stayed up talking till at least two in the morning. Eventually they went to bed but all of them, even Knuckles, had dreams plagued by a pair of glowing amber eyes.

* * *

_Shadow found himself walking in a field. On one side was the US Army, and on the other was Skaar. __**Skaar? Where did that come from? No, Skaar was not right. He had a different name… What the hell is wrong with me? **__Shadow held his head in confusion. __**My mind is so muddled here… where is here?**__ The Army had tanks, jeeps, GUN mechs and many more Machines of War, all of which were moving towards Skaar. __**Damn! That name again! Who is he!?! **__Shadow beat his thoughts back into line and focused on the situation. __**Hm. The Army seems to have the advantage. With only an axe, the fool has no chance. No matter how strong he is he does not have the element of surprise like he did at Mission Island. **__The Army was assembling within firing range of Skaar and yet he still did not move. __**That fool! He will be… what? **__The earth began to shake and the skies began to darken. Skaar slowly raised his head and glared at the Army. His cold voice resounded across the battlefield. "You are all responsible, and will be punished for your sin." __**What? Sin? **__Suddenly, Skaar disappeared. __**Where did he go? **__Shadow looked around. There was a dull roar followed by some screams as a tank exploded. As the smoke cleared, Skaar emerged from the wreckage like a God of War. Dark matter began to form around him as the soldiers opened fire. The bullets had a strange way of not hitting him, as if they were curving out of the way at the last minute. The dark matter condensed, hiding Skaar's body. The wind picked up, but it seemed to be blowing towards the dark mass from all directions. The air… no, the reality around it seemed distorted, like it was being sucked in by a vacuum. Shadow's eyes widened. __**A black hole?**__ The soldiers nervously backed away. A hollow, ghostlike chanting echoed through the air. Suddenly, an enormous pulse of dark energy shot out of Skaar, dispelling the dark matter. All of the machines exploded, and the soldiers that weren't killed in the initial blast were killed by wandering dark matter. Within seconds the battlefield was reminiscent of a massacre. Shadow's knees felt like jelly. __**What in the world… Who is… Wha…? **__Shadow stared in awe as the black hedgehog faced him. Those strange amber eyes consumed him._

Shadow awoke gasping for air, practically swimming in his own sweat. _Those eyes…_ Shadow had a pounding headache, and rested his head in his hands. _There you are. _Shadow's eyes popped open and his back went rigid. That was not his thought. Shadow glared. _It's you, isn't it. How did you get in my head?_ There was no response. _Wait… he said 'there you are'… he was looking for me? Why? So many questions left unanswered…_ With a groan Shadow stood up and observed the sun peeking over the horizon. _Whatever that was, the others need to know._

After Shadow woke up the others, (Sonic complained a lot) he explained his dream to them. "So this hedgehog was the one you all saw at Mission Island?" Knuckles asked. "Yes. No doubt whatsoever." Sonic groaned. "Oh GREAT! Now the raging psycho knows where we are! We gotta get out of here!" Shadow rolled his eyes. "Sonic, overreacting as usual. Wherever he is, he can't know where the Master Emerald temple is." As if on cue, a black void appeared and the black hedgehog stepped out. "Hello." Shadow had to use every inch of his will to maintain a calm face. Sonic, on the other hand, gaped. "What! How did you find us here?" The black hedgehog glanced back towards Sonic. "That is no matter of yours. Shadow, I know that you were spying on me." Shadow stared blankly. "Spying?" "Yes." "What? You mean my dream was real?" The black hedgehog eyed him questioningly. "Yes?" Tails gaped. "So you killed all those people on your own? Who are you?" Shadow cut in. "His name is Skaar." Skaar smirked. "Ah. You remembered my name in the Old Tongue, as the language has been dubbed. It means "edged blade" or "hot blade" in reference to my blade skill and short temper. But do you remember your name?" Shadow glared. "You know who I am, and apparently who I was too. Why don't you just spit it out instead of all this runaround?" Skaar glared back. "It has become apparent that you will not remember on your own, and that you are going to side with the humans. Therefore, it would be pointless to tell you as you have to die." Shadow fingered his pistol behind his back, preparing to fire. "So. That's what you're here for, then?" Skaar held out his hand, and his axe materialized. "It is regrettable, but no one must stand in my way. Not even you." Shadow drew his pistol and fired two quick shots, one to the head and the other to the chest. To his horror, Skaar was gone before the bullets could touch him. "Fool." The voice came from behind him. _That was a point-blank shot. How did he dodge it?_ "Even in your current state, you should have known that was futile." He felt a stab of pain sear up his spine, then Shadow's world went black.

_Shadow was floating in space. It was so dark he couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. **Where am I? Am I… dead? **Images flashed before his eyes. They were too blurry to make out, but he got the impression of death from them. It made him feel… sad. **Death hasn't affected me this way since Maria. Why now?** Nevertheless… every image made him feel like he was losing a part of himself. Shadow was thankful when the images faded away._ "Shadow, do you know who you are? What you are?"_ Shadow looked around frantically. **Who was that? Maria? **He saw a flash of black hair, and a person turning away. **Wait! Who are you?** Suddenly, he saw Tikal. She walked towards him and stopped standing over his body. **I can't move… Tikal?**She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead._ "You will not die yet, Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow woke up with a pounding headache. _I'm not dead?_ He looked around. The others were gathered around the Master Emerald Temple. He also noticed that Tikal was awake. _Ah… So it wasn't a dream._ Tikal looked up from a conversation with knuckles, who had a bandage over one eye, and saw Shadow. "…Knuckles? He is awake." Knuckles turned towards Shadow. "Hey! Thought we'd lost you there!" Shadow sat up with a jolt. "Where is he?!? Sonic came over. "You mean that Skaar guy? It was weird. After you went down, he rounded on the rest of us." Sonic snickered. "Tails got a _little_ protective over Cream. He jumped in between Skaar and Cream and yelled at him." Tails blushed. "Well, what about you? You didn't complain when Amy hugged on to you like that. You even patted her arm!" Sonic and Tails began another argument while Knuckles explained. "When he came over, I tried to hit him. I didn't even see him move, but I felt him do this." He pointed at his covered eye. Tikal says even with her healing powers, it won't heal fully for a year and I'll have permanent short sight in this eye." Knuckles sighed. "Anyway, after I went down, Tikal woke up. When Skaar saw her, he yelled something in the Old Tongue and disappeared in another of those void things. It didn't make any sense."

Shadow rubbed his temples. He had sat up too fast. "Un… what did he do to me?" Tikal came up and nodded politely to Knuckles. "I'm not sure. He moves so fast… by the way, Tikal, what did you do to him? Shadow was on the brink of death, but you just kissed him on the forehead and here he is, alive." Shadow had a pounding headache, but couldn't resist a little dry wit. "Why does it matter, Knuckles? Jealous?" Knuckles' muzzle turned bright red,(about the same shade as the rest of him) and he scowled. "Why you little-…I-…er-…gah! If you weren't in such bad shape… Shut up!" Knuckles turned around and crossed his arms, blushing furiously. Tikal just looked at Knuckles curiously. Shadow smirked. God, Knuckles was gullible. Shadow looked down at his torso and gaped. "Tikal, what did he do to me? He almost killed me, but there's no scar or bruise. Wouldn't your healing have left some form of a scar where the wound was?" Tikal sat cross-legged across from him. "When he attacked you he didn't hurt your skin. I don't know how, but he basically implanted dark energy inside of you. He wanted you to die slowly. All this death… why does he wish to hurt you?" Shadow groaned. "I… don't know." Shadow's face hardened. "But more importantly, how do you know him, Tikal?" Tikal's eyes widened. "I don't miss much. Knuckles said he yelled something at you and ran when he saw you. How do you know him and what did he say to you?" It was a question, but it sounded more like a demand. Knuckles' eyes widened and he whirled about and stared at Shadow. "She saved your life! Why are you treating her like a-" "Everyone's a suspect! Ally or not, she may be the only person alive who's dealt with him before. She holds any information back, we might all die!"

Knuckles stood back, aghast. Tikal looked at her feet sadly. "Knuckles, Shadow is right. I did know him." She kept looking at the ground, refusing to meet eye contact. "When I was a child, he was my friend. We were raised together, same ideals, everything. When I chose to be a priestess for Chaos, He became a priest. We helped each other. When the cityfolk were preparing to attack the temple, he began to speak out against my father's ideals of power. As he gained followers, he began to speak to Chaos with me. We warned Chaos of the rebellion, and told him that there were those who would help him. Chaos must have forseen the death of the townsfolk, because instead of accepting our help he sent me away, to speak with Skaar alone. Skaar came back grim, saying we had to leave this world. Chaos had entrusted him with the task of keeping the echidna and hedgehog races alive. Chaos must have known I would have refused to leave… Chaos transferred his natural power to Skaar, choosing to draw his power from the emeralds. Skaar used Chaos' power to open a portal to another place, where he said no one could hurt the people of the city. He said it was my last chance to escape before the bloodshed started. I thought I could still convince father that what he was doing was wrong, so I said no. Skaar led the people who still followed chaos into the portal, and apologized that he could not stay and stand against my father with me, then left and never looked back. I thought he was dead." Tikal looked up. "I did not expect to meet him again." Shadow closed his eyes. "And what did he say to you today?" Tikal looked down again sadly. _You are a traitor to your kind; you are a traitor to yourself_.

Skaar crouched against a wall. _What was she doing here? And to be working with them… traitor. _Skaar coughed heavily into his hand. When he drew his hand away, it was covered in blood.

* * *

_Skaar: _So... waddaya think? REVIEW! And again, I'm sorry about my updating slowing down. And again, I HAVE A PROFILE!!!!! YAY!!!

_Tikal:_ What is this "profile"? I do not understand...

_Shadow:_ Tikal, you're so old you don't know what a table lamp or PONG is!

_Skaar: ..._Disturbing...


	6. Enter the Abyss

_Skaar: _Sorry about updating and all that. I have Geometry this year... It's fun, but it takes so long!

_Shadow:_ heh... Imbecile...

_Skaar:_ Hey! I never said it was HARD!

_Tails:_ Skaar only owns the plot and the Extended Master Emerald Chant.

_

* * *

_

_Recap:_ Skaar crouched against a wall. _What was she doing here? And to be working with them… traitor. _Skaar coughed heavily into his hand. When he drew his hand away, it was covered in blood.

* * *

Tikal sat, with her head in her hands. Knuckles was glaring at Shadow angrily. "You're really damn insensitive, Shadow. It was obvious she was hurt by what that Skaar guy said. You didn't have to press her so much." Shadow just closed his eyes. He knew he had been a little too forceful, but it was too late to turn back now. She may have saved his life, but still…

"Knuckles, she's still holding something back. I say-"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?! SHE SAVED YOUR LIFE! IN CASE YOU FORGOT, SHE'S A GOOD GUY!"

Shadow sighed. "I was not going to suggest we press her for more information. I'm not an interrogator. I was going to say before your biased rant that we should bring her to Mission Island and see if she can find us that portal, so that we can find out for ourselves what's going on. I was simply stating that she was hiding something. You jump to conclusions even more quickly with her around."

Knuckles gaped. "A-and what do you mean by that?"

As if to answer, Cream walked up with Tails. "Tails, what's biased mean?"

Tails smirked. "Well, Cream, in this case it means that even though Knuckles barely knows Tikal, she influences his opinion a whole bunch because he's obsessed with her already and-"

"SHUT UP!"

Amy snuck up behind Knuckles and leaned over his shoulder. "Gosh, Knuckles! It's not like she can hear us from here! Of course, if you keep yelling, she might want to see what's going on…

Knuckles was quivering, his face bright red. Out of embarrassment or anger, Shadow couldn't tell. "Y-you…" On second thought, probably a lot of both.

Suddenly, even Sonic was there. "Hey, Knux! She's cute by echidna standards I guess, but ya don't have to get so mad…" Knuckles and Amy exploded at once.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU SONIC!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, CUTE?!?"

They both went charging after a bewildered and very frightened Sonic. Shadow just smirked and stood up. "Well, I should speak to Tikal."

Tails looked over at him. "Don't push her too hard, okay?"

Shadow groaned. "I'm not going to interrogate her!" How weak-minded did they think she was? He raises his voice a little bit, and **everyone **jumps on his case. But as he slowly walked closer, Shadow began to feel that sinking feeling in his stomach. He wasn't the soft type to worry about other people's feelings, but he did owe her his life… _Damn it…_ Shadow finally approached her, feeling a little awkward. "Tikal?" She looked up. Her eyes weren't red. Well, at least she hadn't been crying. "Tikal, I-"

Knuckles waltzed up with a very content expression. (Amy was at this moment finding Sonic stuffed in a _very _small box) "Hey Tikal. Y'know, Shadow has this idea… Are you ok?"

Tikal looked over at Knuckles. "I'm fine. Why do you all keep asking that?"

Shadow really felt like killing Knuckles. He got Shadow all worked up about Tikal and played on his guilt, (yes, Shadow does have guilt) and Tikal turns out to be fine! Shadow glared death at Knuckles, but he didn't seem to notice. "Knuckles, shut up." Knuckles did notice that.

"WHY YOU-!"

Knuckles abruptly went silent, as there was a fist in his mouth. As Knuckles was sent bouncing downhill, Shadow turned back to Tikal. "Tikal. We need you to identify the "portal" on Mission Island for us. We all need to see what's going on. If we go to this "Valley of Chaos", we should all be able to find out." Tikal looked nervous. "Well?" Shadow raised an eyebrow.

Tikal looked at him rather nervously. "T-to go to the Valley is forbidden…"

Shadow simply stared. He knew what kind of affect his stare had on people. "Tikal, we NEED to know what's going on in there. What could have made Skaar so mad?"

Tikal sighed. "I know. The world depends on it. W-we must… still, it does not feel right…"

Shadow turned toward the rest of the group (minus Knux). "Well then. How do we get back to Mission Island from here?"

Tails sighed. "No one here can fly that far, and Shadow can only hover with his shoes. If we hadn't crashed the _Tornado_…"

Tikal raised her hand. "Um… I have a way." She walked over to the Master Emerald. "Using the power of the Master Emerald, I can open a portal like Skaar did. Chaos taught us…" She mumbled a few words, and a portal appeared. But unlike Skaar's, it was pure, and you could see the other side. The ruined COM tower stood ominously on the other side. "So… here." By now Knuckles had staggered up, and they all filed in.

On the other side, Tikal gasped. "Skaar did this? He would never… what could cause him to be so brutal?"

Shadow glanced at her. "Supposedly, the humans committed some sin against him. We'll just have to see in the Valley." The base was still deserted, but there were signs of GUN around. A fresh piece of rubble from a search team, a piece of clothing caught on a chunk of metal, nothing more. Still, it was sign enough. "I think GUN still has a presence here. We should be careful."

The base proved to be very simple to navigate. Eventually, they got to the main building. "Tikal, if you thought the base was bad, you should look away as we get to the entrance hall." Sure enough, GUN had not moved the bodies yet. Tikal looked faint.

"…Skaar?"

Shadow looked away as well; he had forgotten how gruesome a massacre like this was. "Yes."

Tikal was horrified. "What kind of monster… What has he become?"

Shadow grimaced. "Obviously he wasn't like this before. What could drive him to this?"

Tikal sighed as they left the hall. "I don't know."

They walked a ways further before entering a huge chamber that looked like an explosion had happened inside. Tikal stopped. "It is here. The power of Chaos is overwhelming. They stood before a majestic archway at least fifty feet tall with ancient markings. Tikal gaped. "The Old Tongue." She felt the markings "The servers… are the seven chaos, Chaos… is power… enriched by the heart. The one who unifies the chaos… is the controller." "The chant of the Master Emerald." Tikal's brows furrowed. "There is more here." "The controller… embraces Chaos." Tikal's eyes widened. "Life thrives in Chaos." "Life thrives in Chaos… this is it! The portal to the Valley is here. Wait. There is a handprint…" "The controller is a server. The servant of Chaos must bind with Chaos to unleash heaven… or hell." "We must channel the power of Chaos into the handprint to enter the Valley." Tikal mumbled a few words and put her hand in the slot. The slot began to glow blue, and the air echoed with a haunting chant in the Old Tongue. Blue energy seeped out of the handprint, making intricate designs on the archway. A portal formed in the center that looked just like Skaar's.

"Tails gaped. "Amazing…"

Shadow just stared. "Amy, you Tails and Cream stay behind. We don't know what's in there." Shadow glared at Amy strong enough to burn a whole through two inches of iron in fifteen minutes. "And I mean **STAY, **Amy.

Knuckles stared at the portal suspiciously. "The point of no return… let's go."

* * *

_Skaar: _Not my best Chap... but in other news, I HAVE RECENTLY DISCOVERED THE CURE FOR WRITER'S CRAMP!

_Tails: _Really!?!

_Skaar:_ Writer's block...

_Shadow: _...

_Shadow:_ Hey Tails, didn't you say that you woudn't ever be Skaar's muse again?

_Tails:_ Sh... shut up...


	7. The Valley of Chaos

_Skaar:_ Okay, this chapter starts to explain what the heck's going on a very little bit.

_Shadow: _Skaar owns almost everything in this chapter, just not the characters.

_Skaar: _WOOT! I own a majority of this chapter!

_Shadow: _Oh, great. What will he do to us this chap...

_Skaar: _MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, I forgot! This chapter has kind of a iffy ending,(could have been worded better) But I make up for it, as it is a whole four pages instead of three!

_Shadow:_ You are a disturbed person, Skaar.

_Skaar: _No, just a disturbing person.

_Shadow: ..._

* * *

_Recap:_ "Amy, you Tails and Cream stay behind. We don't know what's in there." Shadow glared at Amy strong enough to burn a whole through two inches of iron in fifteen minutes. "And I mean **STAY, **Amy.

Knuckles stared at the portal suspiciously. "The point of no return… let's go."

* * *

Tikal looked at the portal. "I still feel this is wrong..." 

Sonic looked over at Shadow. "Well, this was your idea. You go first."

Shadow stepped forward and rolled his eyes. "Scared? Fine." Shadow just tuned out the angry babble that followed. He slowly stepped towards the portal. _No telling what's on the other side…_ He reached his hand out towards the portal. Touching it felt like plunging your hand into blood. Cold blood. _Vile…_ Shadow took a deep breath, and walked in.

Fire. Death. Blood everywhere. A thousand deaths. And Shadow felt every one is if it were him dying. Suddenly, it all stopped.

**YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM**

"_Hello? Who's there?"_

**YOU ARE RETURNING.**

"_What? Who are you?"_

**YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF ENTRY, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG.**

"_What?" Images began to flash before Shadow again, only much more specific. Station Square burning, Central city's Sonicteam base collapsing. Last of all, the black-haired figure walking away from him. His hand raised towards her, and he cried out. But not in his voice, in Skaar's. "Aila!"_

Shadow stumbled out of the portal, and fell on his hands and knees to empty his stomach. _Th… That was… Horrible._ The images he could handle, but he felt so vile after entering the portal. It made him want to scrub himself with soap. He felt like had been soaking in someone else's blood. He heard a retching noise behind him, and knew Tikal had passed through. As he turned, he saw Knuckles and Sonic wiping their mouths as well. Tikal covered her mouth.

"Th- that feeling… it was like…"

"A massacre." Shadow finished. Sonic used the archway for support.

"Ugh… some start to an adventure, huh?" Tikal looked out past the portal.

"Well, at least we're… Oh my god…" They all looked out in the same direction as her. About three feet from them the lush grass they were sitting on ended abruptly. Behind it, the land was… dead. The ground was dull gray and cracked, and the few trees in sight were poor imitations of dry sticks. There was no wind, so the air hung thickly and there was not even a stone in sight, giving the perfectly flat plane a very empty feeling. Shadow threw a quill on the gray dirt, and it turned to stone, then broke down into dust.

"The _Gaia Hara._ The Blighted Land." Tikal looked around in horror.

"All of the Worldly Portals were supposed to lead to the Valley…"

Knuckles looked down at the grass. "I think this was part of the Valley."

Sonic looked at Knuckles. "What? What happened?"

Shadow sighed. "Maybe the humans did it. That would explain why Skaar is so angry."

Tikal looked out towards the abyss. "Only one way to find out. I can maintain a plane of Chaos energy. We can use it to float across the _Gaia Hara_."

Shadow eyed her. "For someone so reluctant to come here, you are eager to move on."

Tikal looked at him sadly. "I **need **to know who did this."

Shadow nodded. Tikal wasn't violent, but Shadow knew a lot about needing to know. Tikal summoned a blue disc just large enough for everyone to fit comfortably. They all concluded that if they headed out straight from the direction that they exited the portal, they should reach the center. Knuckles and Tikal agreed that each of the portals pointed towards the center of the Valley. And so they went, for seemingly hours. Until finally, Shadow's eyes picked up movement. "Tikal, over there!" As the Disc floated closer, Shadow could make out an Echidna, standing on a small patch of grass. He was fending off… demons or something… with a broken branch. He had many major gashes in his chest. How was he alive? "Damnit!" Shadow catapulted off of the disc, activating his jet shoes. Just as the echidna went under, Shadow caromed into the back of the crowd. A Demon swiped at his skull, but Shadow he ducked and spun to gain momentum. Shadow swept out his leg and his jets blasted the Demon in the chest it screeched and fell back. Shadow completed his spin with a back kick that blew another's head to pieces. Shadow noticed that unlike other creatures, the Demons simply dissipated with no blood when killed. By then the disk arrived, and the others made quick work of the demons. Shadow came up to the echidna in time to catch him as he began to fall. The Echidna smiled up at Shadow.

"Lord Skaar… I know you'd find me. I knew you were alive." Before he could say more, his hand brushed the gray dirt. Like the quill, he turned to stone and dissipated. Shadow stared blankly at his hands, where the Echidna used to be.

"Lord Skaar?" Shadow looked back, and saw Tikal wipe a tear from her eye.

"I… knew him. He was a flower peddler back in what you call the Third Civilization. When I was little, he would give me Tiger Lilies to put in my hair…"

Shadow stepped back on the Disc with the others, and not a moment to soon. Black tendrils from the surrounding _Gaia Hara_ engulfed the small, grassy patch. _Lord Skaar…_ Shadow groaned. _I come here for answers, and get more questions. _Within fifteen minutes, they could see smoke on the horizon. Knuckles squinted. "A village, maybe?" They got to the village in a few minutes and found most of it still had grass. It was more like a city than a village, but it was hard to tell because most of the buildings were destroyed. Razed to the ground was a more fitting description.

Sonic looked around in awe. "Woah… what happened, a bomb go off?" As they moved in closer to the center of the city, the buildings became more intact. Most of them were three stories tall, and looked like living quarters.

Shadow looked around suspiciously, as if a Demon could jump out at any minute. "Why are the buildings more intact deeper in? It's almost as if the attackers were looking to maintain the more vital parts of the city. But why, to inhabit it? If so, what with? I don't see any humans…"

Knuckles cracked his knuckles. (Heh. I made a funny…) "Something is fishy here… and I don't think I want to know what it is."

Tikal looked around nervously. "It feels as if someone is watching me…"

Shadow groaned. "This whole damned Valley makes you feel like that." God, this place was confusing. He was developing a headache… suddenly the dull pain in his head became rather sharp.

Sonic looked at him. "Hey, Shad, are you ok?" Shadow looked down, and realized his hands were clenched so tight that his nails had cut through his gloves and pierced his palm. Shadow forced his hands to relax.

"I'm… fine." Shadow took a few steps ahead of the group "We should keep-" Shadow fell to his knees. "Moving…" Shadow heard Knuckles call his name, and then collapsed.

_Shadow found himself within his own conscience, but not alone. Skaar was standing across from him in the nothingness. "So, you found the Valley." Skaar leaned against an invisible wall. "Now you will understand." _

_Shadow stared. "So, you were behind that headache. What will I understand?"_

_Skaar glared at nothing. "The headache was my way of intruding your mind. You will understand why the humans responsible need to die. They took EVERYTHING from me." _

"_Everything?"_

"_Yes. You will not understand until your memory returns."_

_Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You seem unnaturally friendly today." Though Skaar being unnaturally friendly was Skaar showing mild hatred. _

_Skaar just nodded. "How long have you not remembered who you are?"_

_Shadow groaned. "I don't remember that either."_

"_You should know that when I said they took everything from me, they took everything from you too."_

"_What?"_

"_Go to the central plaza. You'll find the woman who raised you there. Her name was Aila. You can't miss her."_

"_My mother?!?"_

"Shadow? Shadow!"

Shadow opened his eyes, and found himself on all fours. "Uhhh…" _My skull is pounding…_

"Hey, are you okay, Shadow?" Shadow looked up as Knuckles helped him up. Suddenly, it all came crashing down on him. Skaar in his mind and… Shadow broke free of Knuckles' grip. "Hey! What the heck?!?" Shadow jolted ahead of the rest. _I have a mother? _

Eventually, the rest caught up. "What the heck is your problem, Shadow?!? You just shot off… what in the world…" Knuckles stepped back, aghast. The entire square was a massacre. At least two hundred people were strewn across the streets, many women and some children. "Mission Island was nothing like this." Tikal fell to her knees.

"All of these people… Why?" Shadow ignored Tikal and all of the bodies, and walked towards the center of the plaza. There were a two large stakes in the center. There was some things hanging limply on them… _You'll find the woman who raised you there. Her name was Aila. You can't miss her. _His pace quickened. Eventually he was at a full out run. He finally reached the stakes. _You can't miss her._ There were two forms hanging there, both female hedgehogs. One of them was of black, average height, with quills about Amy's length that covered her face from that angle. She was also wearing a torn blue top similar to a human's tank top with a black dress. But that was not what drew his attention.

The other woman was tall for a hedgehog, though not as tall as Skaar. Her quills were almost to her hips, which combined with her elegant ballroom dress, made her seem all the more elegant even in death. He could see her face from between the quills, if just barely. Her face was angelic, and she could be mistaken as sleeping. Locked in eternal sleep… It was the same form he had been seeing flashes of when he was unconscious. _You can't miss her._ "Tikal looked in horror. "…They were… made examples. They were put here for someone to see very recently."

Shadow glared death at the ground. "They were meant for Skaar. DAMN THOSE HUMANS!" He ground his fist angrily into the stake, which instantly snapped. As the body fell, he turned towards the others. "She was my mother. Skaar told me. Damn them…" Tikal walked up to the other body.

"They were probably innocent…" She was on the verge of tears. Suddenly Tikal's eyes widened as she touched the other one's face. "Shadow! This one's alive!"

* * *

_Skaar:_ Okay... there it is...

_Shadow: _Why am I always the one experencing psychological trauma?

_Skaar:_ Hey. remember our deal? You bow to my will and be my constant muse, and I let you in on your past.

_Shadow: _Damn. I wonder if it's really worth it...

_Fictional Skaar:_ Just kill him and get it over with, Shadow.

_Skaar: _Hey! you're me!

_Fictional Skaar: _Strange...

_Skaar: _Disturbing...


	8. The Storms of the Past

_Skaar:_It be me burtday!

_Fictional Skaar: _Burtday?

_Skaar:_ MY BIRTHDAY! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

_Shadow: _Skaar does not own any characters/places in this chapter exept for Skaar, Mor'gul and The Valley of Chaos. Oh my GOD! Tails, Skaar going ino an epilleptic fit again!

_Skaar:_ My BIRTHDAY!

_Tails:_ I'll get the plunger...

* * *

_Recap:_ "She was my mother. Skaar told me. Damn them…" Tikal walked up to the other body. 

"They were probably innocent…" She was on the verge of tears. Suddenly Tikal's eyes widened as she touched the other one's face. "Shadow! This one's alive!"

* * *

"She was my mother. Skaar told me. Damn them…" Tikal walked up to the other body. 

"They were probably innocent…" She was on the verge of tears. Suddenly Tikal's eyes widened as she touched the other one's face. "Shadow! This one's alive!"

Tails stood in the doorway to the portal room and yawned. "When are they gonna get back? I wish we could go…"

Amy shivered. "Not me. It's probably really creepy over there. But I hope my Sonniku is okay."

Cream just sighed, patting Cheese on the head. Cheese giggled happily. "They've been in there a long time. I hope they're okay…"

Suddenly, They all heard a bunch of clicks. "D-don't move!" They turned around to find a GUN patrol, complete with loaded assault weapons. One of them lifted a walkie-talkie. "Home base, this is 3rd patrol. We have captured the intruders, OVER." All they got was a crackle. "Home base, this is 3rd patrol! Repeat, we have captured the intruders, OVER."

Tails smirked. "I put out a jamming signal from my watch when I saw you guys. The whole base is under radio silence."

The apparent leader of the patrol pointed his gun at him. "Wha- well, turn it off!"

Tails laughed. "Why? What are you going to do to me if I don't? Shoot me?" Amy stepped up behind him.

"Yeah! We're friends of Sonic! If you try to take us in, we'll beat the crud out of you!"

The captain apparently had heard of Sonic and his friends, (well, DUH! Who hasn't!) Because he looked very intimidated.

"Eh-Er-Sh-shut up! Hands in the air, now!" The patrol pointed their guns. Tails smirked.

"Come on Amy, we can take them." There was suddenly a deep rumble, and then the ceiling fell in between the patrol and the Sonicteam members. As the dust cleared, another GUN soldier's form began to appear through the dust. The GUN soldier's body was crumpled on the ground and standing on it was…

"Y-you!" The GUN captain took a step back, horrified. Skaar emerged from the rubble, his cloak amazingly dust-less. "Wh-what are you idiots waiting for? Shoot him!" The soldiers opened fire, but the bullets never hit him. "What in the world…?" Skaar slowly turned around. He raised a fist.

"My eyes…are used to your attacks." He slowly opened his hand, and crushed bullets fell to the floor. He extended his hand, and black tendrils stretched forth from his fingertips and grasped the guards.

"**GRAAAAAH!" **The guards writhed in pain. The black tendrils crushed the guards against the walls. Eventually, only the captain was left. The black tendrils brought him in closer to Skaar, until their faces were only inches away from each other. Skaar's eyes glowed with fury, molten pools of fire and magma, just waiting to erupt.

"You will live. Go to your leaders and tell them this; I will not rest until every one of them is dead. Those not responsible can run at any time. Remember, or **die**." The guard gurgled, and went limp. He was carelessly thrown aside. "…He fainted. Humans are so fragile." He looked over at the dumbstruck Sonicteam members. "If you value your lives, you will let me enter the Valley. Or, I could just kill you and go anyway. Your choice." Tails hesitantly stepped backwards. "That's what I thought." Skaar walked slowly past him. "…Good. You know when to back down. You are a smart child." Skaar entered the portal room and put his hand on the archway. It began to glow. Tails, Amy and Cream could only watch."

"W-wait!" Skaar looked at Amy. "My Sonniku is in there! He hasn't come out for a really long time… Please, wait until he gets back. You always leave behind a massacre… If you go in there, I… I might never see him again…" Amy's eyes welled up. Skaar bowed his head. The portal sprung up in the archway behind him.

"I… understand." Tails gaped. _What?_ Skaar looked up at the portal. Skaar looked back at her. "But I cannot stay. My business is vital to me." He began to fade into the portal.

Shadow flew across the gap between him and the archway, the unconscious young woman thrown over his shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. At the last minute, just as the group had had the portal in sight, Demons had sprouted out of the _Gaia Hara_ like daisies. He could see the others waiting for him at the portal. _Just a little bit further…_ Behind them, the portal was open. _Good. Tikal opened the portal. _Then he noticed Skaar's face next to Tikal's, halfway out of the portal. _Damn it! Not now! _He saw his allies backing into the portal, still watching him, unaware of the danger behind them. "RAAAAH!" With one last push, Shadow dove for the portal and tackled the half emerged Skaar in the process.

Tails watched Skaar begin to fade into the void. _Well, at least we're alive… _Suddenly, Skaar was blasted back out by a black blur. (Heh… say that ten times fast!) The rest of the Sonicteam party emerged right after followed by a swarm of strange semi-human creatures. Skaar stood up quickly and blue lightning sprouted from his palm. The creatures that were not instantly decimated fell back into the portal with unearthly screeches. The portal abruptly closed and Skaar glared at Shadow.

"You fool! You almost unleashed hell into this world!" Skaar walked over to Shadow, who was still trying to stand up. "You're lucky that I was… What?" His face faded from contempt to horror. "Is that… It can't be…" Skaar crouched next to her and pushed the hair out of her face. Shadow could see now that if not for her gaunt expression and pale face, she might have been… attractive. Tikal came up behind him.

"She is alive." Skaar looked like he had got a slap in the face.

"…Alive?" Tikal crouched next to him.

"Who is she, that she could make you act this way?" Shadow cocked an eyebrow. Tikal and Skaar seemed to still act like friends when near each other. Skaar had forgotten about everyone else. Skaar's face hardened again.

"I have no time to explain." He looked at Shadow. "You and your friends will care for her. Tikal's primary skill is healing, so let Tikal work on her." Skaar stepped towards the portal. Less than a food away from the portal he stopped. His lips curved up into a smirk. "Time to kill a rat." He went to take a step into the portal, but stopped. "I almost forgot. Shadow, if she dies under the care of you and your allies…" Skaar looked back at him, eyes flashing with bloodlust. "I **will **kill you all." With that, his body faded into the portal.

_Heh… he let his guard down. So he isn't an emotionless husk, and he has weaknesses. But what did he mean by "time to kill a rat"?_

Knuckles rubbed at his bad eye. "Argh! Dammit! Tikal, I think it's bleeding again." Tikal walked over to him and lifted the gauze patch and bandage over his bad eye(His left, by the way. I forgot to tell you in Ch. 5). Tikal sighed.

"Knuckles, your eye wouldn't bleed if you didn't rub it."

Knuckles groaned. "But it itches…"

Tikal sighed again. "That means it's healing. But it will never heal if you don't leave it alone. Ah, there you are!" As Tikal pulled back her hand after the healing, Shadow got a glimpse of Knuckles' marled eye. It had no pupil, and a very raw scar was running vertically down from his eyebrow to his cheek.

_Not as bad as I thought it would be._ Shadow cleared his throat. "I hate to intrude, but we should probably return with this young woman to Sonicteam. She needs medical treatment soon to live."

Tails stepped up. "Right. And as for you, Knuckles, you're an idiot."

"What! Why you- Ow! My eye split open!" Knuckles staggered backwards, grabbing his eye as Tikal rushed back over.

Tails smirked. "I rest my case. Now then, we have to make some sort of gurney for her, since Shadow can't just carry her around everywhere. We- Hey, Shadow! What are you doing?!"

Shadow stood up after lifting her over his shoulder. "Let's go. It worked well enough in the Valley, didn't it?" Shadow just waltzed past the dumbstruck Tails.

"But what about your shoulder?"

"I'm fine."

"Fine? You must have lost at least five pints of blood by now!"

"I'm Fine"

Tails groaned. "You're just as bad as Knuckles!"

Shadow looked over at Tikal. "Well? Get us out of here!"

Tikal looked at the ground nervously. "I can't make the portal without an emerald."

Shadow groaned. "Of course. Well, now what?"

Tails looked around. "There should be a Fighter plane hanger somewhere... I think it's that way!"

After a long, tedious walk through Mission Island,(They had to kind of zigzag to avoid GUN patrols) the party arrived at the hangar. Tails inspected each plane, then chose one that he deemed, "Okay, but a little wobbly." "I wouldn't exactly call that a by-the-crow-flies trip… Y'know? I noticed we've been walking a lot recently." Sonic plopped on the wing.

Shadow carefully set the young woman in the back cockpit, before climbing on the other wing. _She seems so familiar… I wonder who she is?_ TheFighter took off and began to rise in altitude. When Mission Island was almost a mile away, the main building exploded. "What the hell?" Shadow looked back, but could not make out any details. _Was that Skaar? _Tails sighed. "Too late to help them now. We have to keep moving."

Skaar coughed up some blood. An imposing form stood above him. It chuckled in a strong, masculine voice. "You really thought that with your mere slice of godly power you could take me down? Chaos is strong, but Mephalis is stronger."

Skaar glared up at the form through the smoke around him. Behind them, the portal's smashed and crippled form stood imposingly. "Damn your traitorous hide, Mor'gul. Mephalis is working with the King of Death. You will pay for this."

Mor'gul chuckled again. "Oh, but Skaar, you forget one thing. If you are dead, who will there be left to make me pay?" The last thing Skaar saw was a clawed hand shooting towards his skull.

* * *

_Skaar:_ Kay, then. There it was. I think I spelled Mephalis wrong. Tell me how to spell it by _**REVIEWING! **_

_Shadow: _You idiot! stop yelling.

_Cream: _I didn't have any lines...

_Skaar: _I'm sorry, Cream. I voted you off the metaphorical island.

_Cream: (sob)_

_Tails: _You jackass! (_Punches Skaar)._

_Skaar: _Ow, my face!


	9. The War Begins

_Skaar: Gasp... Gasp..._ Finally... updated...

_Shadow:_ Skaar does not own the rendom plane they are riding, the sonic universe, (Except for the Valley of Chaos) or the Non-OC Characters. As for the rest of it...

_Skaar: Gasp... _MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

_Tails: _Freak...

_

* * *

_

_Recap:_ "You will pay for this."

Mor'gul chuckled again. "Oh, but Skaar, you forget one thing. If you are dead, who will there be left to make me pay?" The last thing Skaar saw was a clawed hand shooting towards his skull.

* * *

Shadow looked at the horizon, wind whipping through his spikes. The horizon reminded him of his present situation; things always seemed just out of sight. The trip back was silent; except for a few grumbles form certain parties (Sonic and Amy), which was perfectly fine with Shadow. It gave him time to sort things out. _Why is it that this whole little escapade is leaving me with so many more questions than answers? Who is Aila? My Mother? What about Skaar? He seems attached to the girl in the back of the plane. He said he would kill us if she died…_ Shadow's brooding was interrupted by Tikal, who had never been on (Or seen, or heard of) a plane before. After trying to remain seated on the rim of the cockpit and tend to Knuckles' eye at the same time, she had lost her balance and fell on top of Shadow. Knuckles helped Tikal up, Tikal blushing awkwardly.

"Um-" Shadow waved away whatever she was going to say. He was too preoccupied to listen to an apology. He glanced over at the young lady in the back seat.

_How old could she be? Eighteen? Nineteen? She is just a child. _(Remember, Shadow is technically 50.) His eyes spotted a glint on her right hand. Shadow leaned closer and picked up her hand. She had a peculiar ring on her ring finger. It looked like a dragon with a second head where the tail was supposed to be, and both heads were trying to swallow the moon. The dragon made the band and the "Moon" was an opal stone. From the distance, it looked like any other ring. _I wonder what that symbolizes…_ The plane abruptly jolted, almost knocking Sonic and Shadow off of the wings. Shadow turned to Tails, "What the hell was that?" Tails looked down at the controls.

"I don't know. It looks like it was just an updraft. Probably nothing to worry about. Salt water messes up airplanes sometimes because of the changing currents and salt residue in the air." Suddenly, a massive black claymore with red rims pierced through the center of the plane, and began to tear it apart.

Shadow jumped out of the way as it dragged past him. "Everyone, jump! Don't worry about the water, we can make it!" as Shadow jumped off of the plane with the girl in tow, he looked back and saw what was on the other side of the sword. A massive, seven-foot wolverine with armor to match the sword was holding on to the bottom of the jet and tearing at it with the sword. The plane burst into flame, and the wolverine jumped off just as Shadow submerged. The saltwater seared Shadow's arm, and he flinched painfully. He quickly swam to the surface, being sure to keep the girl's head above the water. She really was a pain in the ass to carry around, whoever she was. Shadow glanced around, but there was no sign of the massive assailant, above or below the water. How could someone so large just disappear? No way he could swim fast enough with that heavy armor, no matter what size. He began to work his way towards the crash site, where the rest of Sonicteam floated on the rubble.

Mission Island was obliterated. Beyond obliterated. The buildings were all gone, the soldiers' bodies disposed of, and the concrete on the ground was even torn out. The massive wolverine crouched atop a hill, watching the figure down below. His lord, his master. This was the first land to fall to his reign. Mor'gul was a wolf, and a tall one at that. He stood at five feet eight inches, which was tall for a wolf, hedgehog, or echidna. His icy blue eyes emanated a false kindness, and he always had a quiet, corner-of-the-lip smile, as if he knew a good joke. His white muzzle was drawn back in that smile, showing off his powerful jaw and sharp canines. His fur was long and silver, with enough of a shine to it to give you the impression he was some sort of prissy, rich stuck-up. He also liked to wear human clothes that made him look like some sort of medieval nobility, adding to the image. He did have a taste for the fineries of life, but those who knew him better knew that was pretty far from the mark. Mor'gul had a Japanese sword at his waist, which had a blade of dark red. The blade was originally silver. Mor'gul was a killer, and one so cruel that it was said he could kill a man just with an annoyed look. But then, there were many stories about his lord; it was impossible for him to even sort out fact from fiction. He began to stalk down the hill to report his success.

Mor'gul studied the horizon. That flying thing he had seen was well out of sight by now, but he was not worried. Whatever it was, it would not go far. Mor'gul smiled quietly. He could just see those people again, the ones he killed in the Valley. Their bloody faces, screaming in fear… good memories. His connection to Mephiles told him of a presence nearby. "It is done, Jair?" The battle-clad wolverine smirked down at Mor'gul.

"I brought it down myself." Mor'gul just stared straight ahead.

"And the riders? What of The Girl?"

"They fell in the ocean. No way they'll make it."

Mor'gul's muzzle curled up in a content smile. "You did well, Jair." Jair smirked. It was rare that Mor'gul gave out compliments, even to his second-in-command. "Jair?" Mor'gul smiled gently up at the towering figure fixating him with his eyes. "Don't let them get away next time." Jair's face paled. He slowly stumbled away from Mor'gul. Mor'gul just looked back at the horizon, taking his walk back down Memory Lane.

Jair leaned against the hill, wiping heavy sweat from his brow. In all honesty, it was not hot. Those eyes… Strike one myth.

Shadow grunted. The beach was just in sight. They (By they, I mean Tails) had made a small raft out of the wreckage from the cockpits of the plane. They were taking turns pulling and pushing it. At least the men were. If the women helped, It would be… awkward, with all of them wearing bright, relatively thin cotton dresses that might cling a little. Right now, Shadow was in front with a rope around his waist, while a petrified Sonic was holding on to the back, feebly kicking his legs. Basically, Shadow was doing all the work this shift. He paddled on harder, contemplating if his jet shoes would work underwater. He felt a tug on the rope around his waist, and looked back to see Knuckles on the other end. He swam back to the raft, and Knuckles helped him up. "Hey, Shadow. My turn." Knuckles put on his air tank, and dove in. Shadow saw Tails replacing Sonic on the other side of the raft. He sat down on the raft, letting the sun dry him off. He looked over and saw Tikal trying to probe the unconscious girl again. He stood up and decided to walk over to her.

"Hello Tikal. Can you heal her?"

"Tikal wiped some sweat out of her eyes." I've already done what I could for her. She'll live, even after being thrown about like she has been. She's surprisingly sturdy, but we'll need some of your modern medicine to get some food into her. She looks like she hasn't eaten in two weeks. She might not have."

Shadow crouched down next to them. "You have to wonder when the Valley was attacked. Most of those people looked long dead, but some were fresh, like her and Aila. _Or that Echidna, fighting off the demons. What did he mean, "Lord Skaar"? Lord of what? The Valley?_

Tikal sighed. "That was horrible. What kind of person…" She shuddered. She looked around, her eyes settling on Knuckles, who was swimming as rigorously as Shadow had been.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me Knuckles plans on pulling the raft all by himself to the shore." Knuckles was dedicated, if anything else.

The corner of Tikal's lips curled up in a smile. "Probably. Shadow, why is everyone so… brutal in this time."

Shadow closed his eyes. "Brutal? Well, this time is more violent than yours. People are just adapting to survive."

Tikal looked at Shadow. "You most of all. Don't tell me that you were like this before."

"Honestly? I have no idea what I was like before. I can only remember the last few years of my life."

Tikal looked sad. "I did not know that about you. I am sorry." Shadow just snorted. "Tikal looked back at Knuckles. "Knuckles is strange for this age. He is so… honest. He is strong, but is not aggressive at all." Shadow hid a smirk.

_Heh. Right._ Tikal just seemed to drift off into her own world after that. Shadow stared off at he horizon. It would be dark soon. They had better get to shore before it went dark. Suddenly the raft shifted, causing Shadow to turn around. His eyes widened as a blood-soaked glove slowly fumbled around the edge of the raft. The hand gripped onto the edge, and a pair of furious golden eyes glowed in the evening sun. _Skaar._

_

* * *

_

_Skaar: _Okayyy... got my breath now... Kind of shorter than usual, but I'm giving up my grades for you people!

_Fictional Skaar: _Hm... Skaar, look behind you.

_Skaar turns around and jumps. _AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! N-NO, NOT NOW!

_Amy and Cream in unison: _Neither of us had any lines! Rebel! Rebel! _Amy charges Skaar with piko-piko hammer. He yelps and runs away. _

_Fictional Skaar:_ Skaar is an unfortunate writer. Most people control their muses... his muses control him.


	10. Corners of the Mind

_Skaar: _Not my best chapter... not my longest either...

_Shadow: _Oh, quit whining!

_Skaar: _No! AH! Amy, get back in your cage!

_Amy: _I'M FREE!

_Fictional Skaar: _The real Skaar does not own any of the original Sonic characters or the dimension that they are in. Just the OCs and the Valley of Chaos.

_Tails: _Why was Amy in a cage?

_Skaar: _My protection.

_Tails: ..._

_

* * *

_

_Recap: _Suddenly the raft shifted, causing Shadow to turn around. His eyes widened as a blood-soaked glove slowly fumbled around the edge of the raft. The hand gripped onto the edge, and a pair of furious golden eyes glowed in the evening sun. _Skaar.

* * *

_

Time slowed down. Skaar began to slowly hoist himself onto the raft. Shadow looked around. No one else had noticed Skaar yet. Skaar finally stood atop raft, the image of righteous fury. His right arm hung bloodied and limp by his side, showing bone in three places. He also had a deep cut above his eye that was bleeding profusely, matting his fur and quills. If he could see under his fur, Shadow would bet that Skaar also had countless bruises. Even so, Skaar's eyes glowed with furious murder. Tikal noticed Skaar and gasped, which drew the attention of the others. Skaar just stood there dripping saltwater and looked around, his eyes settling on Tikal. He began to slowly walk towards her, leaving a trail of blood. Suddenly, a red blur appeared in the corner of Shadow's eye. "Oh, no you don't!" Knuckles landed a staggering punch on Skaar's cheek. Skaar stumbled as blood came out of his mouth in a short burst. Knuckles took a position in front of Tikal and the anonymous girl, fists raised. Skaar straightened up and turned towards Knuckles. Knuckles smirked as Shadow took up a position next to him. "So, not so tough now, huh? C'mon and get payback for this eye." Knuckles gestured with his hand. With surprising agility, Skaar knocked Shadow over and grabbed Knuckles by the throat. Knuckles gurgled and gasped as Skaar brought him to eye level.

"Get out… of my way." Skaar's eyes were even brighter than before as he threw Knuckles off to the side. He approached Tikal, who seemed petrified. Skaar finally got to her… and passed her.

Shadow blinked. _Huh?_ Skaar stood over the young woman's body, staring down at her. Shadow stood up again and walked over to Skaar. "Skaar… who's side are you on? Are you against us?" Skaar looked at Shadow.

"I'm on my side." Skaar glared, conviction pulsing in his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over and he collapsed onto Shadow. Shadow grunted under the unexpected weight, and checked Skaar's pulse. He was alive.

"That was considerably easier than I thought it would be…" Shadow dropped Skaar on the raft, pulling out his gun. Tikal stepped forward.

"Shadow-"

"He's the enemy! This is the only chance we may have!"

"But-"

"Tikal!" Shadow stared at her. "You know I have to. I know he was your friend, but he is a threat. To all of us." Shadow cocked back his pistol, aiming for a clean headshot. He lined his sights up. Shadow's finger hovered over the trigger. He felt… something. Try as he might, every time he tried to pull the trigger his hand would just cramp up. _Why… can't… I… shoot him! _He could feel another headache coming on… _No! _Shadow pulled back his gun. As he did, the headache faded. _Was… he trying to take me over? How? _"Dammit…" Shadow rubbed his temples. Amy took a step towards Shadow.

"Um… are you okay?" Shadow groaned.

"I can't shoot him. It… hurts. It hurts to try." Tikal walked up to Shadow and placed her hand on his head. Shadow felt a strange pulse go through his body, and he shivered. Tikal was probing him.

"Shadow, there is nothing wrong with you. What do you mean, it hurts?"

Shadow shrugged. "When I tried to shoot him, my hand cramped. After that, I got a headache. Last time I had a headache like that, Skaar took over my mind." Tikal looked at Skaar.

"It seems he learned quite a few new things since I knew him." Tikal walked past Shadow and placed a hand on Skaar's temple. "I'm going to probe his memory. I… I want to see what happened to my people."

Shadow stepped up next to her. "Is there any way for me to see too? I need to know." Tikal nodded.

"Maybe. I am not as strong as Skaar is." Tikal placed her hand on Skaar's forehead. Knuckles jumped up.

"They're my people, too. I'm going." Before Tikal could open her mouth, Knuckles crouched down next to them. _In between _them to be exact. Shadow rolled his eyes.

_Idiot. Does he think I'm "putting moves" on Tikal? Jealous fool…_

Knuckles looked over to Tikal, once again interrupting her. "I have guarded the Master Emerald all of my life. I have a certain degree of Chaos Powers just from being near it so long. I think I can… lend… some of it to you." Knuckles placed his hand on Skaar's head as well. He looked up. "Well? You coming, Shadow?" Shadow kneeled down as well, placing his hand on top of theirs. Knuckles smirked back at Sonic, eying him with his good eye. "Think you can handle yourself without us?" Sonic smirked back.

"It'll be good to have a break from your whining, Knux." Cream looked hesitantly at them, hugging Cheese close to her chest.

"Be careful, Mr. Knuckles." Amy, on the other hand, just waved them off.

"Hurry up and get out of here, so me and my Sonniku can be alone." Sonic twitched nervously. Tails just smirked.

"Keep that idiot in line, Shadow." It was Knuckles' turn to twitch. Tikal hesitantly looked at Shadow and Knuckles.

"It's been a while since I tried this… Is everyone ready?" They both nodded and Tikal closed her eyes. Shadow felt that strange energy pulsing through him again, and he and Knuckles both closed their eyes in mimicry of Tikal. They were no longer on the raft. Shadow found himself floating in an empty black abyss. This must be Skaar's subconscious. He saw Knuckles and Tikal standing next to him. "What now?" Knuckles looked over at him.

"Shut up. She's concentrating." Shadow leaned out to see Tikal. Her hands were clasped, her eyes were closed, and she was biting her lower lip. There was a bead of sweat on her brow.

"Can you give her any more power, Knuckles?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"Getting jumpy, are we? I'll try." Knuckles turned to Tikal and touched her hand. She jumped, and opened her eyes. He clasped their right hands together, and closed his eyes. Tikal stared for a while, but eventually did the same. At first, Shadow felt nothing. Suddenly, the blackness around him distorted, and he felt nauseous. Shadow seemed to black out for a moment, then he found himself in a city, apparently on the main street. The city had no pavement or steel, just stone and grass. Even so, the massive buildings lined up in casual rows emanated a feeling of grandeur that left all of the modern cities in the dust. Shadow leaned over to Tikal.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know. This must be somewhere from Skaar's memory. Wait, is that him?" In the distance, they could see a black figure near a construction site. Apparently, the city was not completed yet.

Knuckles strutted forward. "Well, are you just going to stand there? Come on!" Shadow and Tikal had to power walk just to keep up with him. As they drew closer, details became more distinct. It was Skaar standing at the site, and he was overseeing its construction, throwing in the occasional comments. "Amias, raise that frame higher! Dezi, you fool, don't drop those blocks! Ni'cor, watch out! The echidna known as Ni'cor backed into a hedgehog while carrying some mortar in a wooden bucket. Ni'cor lost his balance, and began to fall screaming towards the ground. Skaar's hand shot out, and the shadows around the echidna twisted, forming into dark bands. The bands wrapped around Ni'cor's limbs and waist, bringing him to a halt. Skaar gestured forward and the bands brought Ni'cor to Skaar. Skaar released the shadows, and the black bands faded away. Skaar looked at the spilled mortar. "Well, that's ruined. What is going on, Ni'cor? You have been so distracted lately." Ni'cor looked down at the ground awkwardly.

"W-well… It's my wife. She's about eight months due with our first child…"

Skaar put a comforting hand on Ni'cor's shoulder and chuckled.

"Ah. First time being a father, eh?" Ni'cor nodded numbly. "Eight months in… I can see how that could be worrisome. Ni'cor, take the day off. Go home and think." Ni'cor looked up gratefully, obviously relived he was not going to be yelled at. As Ni'cor ran off, Skaar looked back at the mortar and grimaced. Suddenly, the goopy mortar seemed to slink back into the bucket, which then lifted itself upright. Skaar smiled kindly, which looked particularly strange on him to Shadow. "Thank you, Aila." Shadow saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned towards the opposing building. A feminine figure stood in the doorway, her elegant features framed by a light coming from inside the building. Shadow stared in awe. _Aila?_

_

* * *

_

_Skaar: _See? Not that good. And the ending was practically the same as in chap 9.

_Shadow: _Shut up already.

_Amy: _Well, at least I had a line...

_Cream: _Me too!

_Skaar: _Yes, you did. Now leave me alone! You two are barely even main characters anyway!

_Cream: (Sob)_

_Tails: _Skaar, you jackass! _(Punches Skaar)_

_Skaar: _Ow, my face! AGAIN!

_Fictional Skaar: _Fool...


	11. Shadows of a Darker Life

_Skaar: _K'ay then. Here it is. I updated late as punishment for all you reviewers out there who didn't even review the last three chapters.

_OC Skaar: _Actually, he is just lazy.

_Skaar: _Eh...

_

* * *

_

_Recap: _Shadow saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned towards the opposing building. A feminine figure stood in the doorway, her elegant features framed by a light coming from inside the building. Shadow stared in awe. _Aila?_

The first time Shadow had seen Aila, it had been in the Valley, her corpse bound to a stake. Even then, she stood out. Now she came to him in full splendor, and her presence dominated his senses. She moved with such grace, such assuredness… Only a fool or a blind man wouldn't call her beautiful. She wore a slim, violet dress with a slit down the side that looked more appropriate for a ballroom or dinner party than the streets of this city of stone they were in. As Shadow looked closer, he realized that he could not tell what species she was. Her body and build had all of the features of a hedgehog, but her quills were thin like hair and hung straight down, cascading down her back. Her quills were pinned out of her face on one side by a wooden comb shaped like the "eye" of a peacock feather, and she had two golden dots (like glitter, but bigger) under her right eye. Her outfit was perfected with a silver necklace that held an angel shaped amulet. All in all, she was just as strange and exotic as Skaar. Her hazel eyes glinted with a mischievous light as she smiled back at the hedgehog in question. Skaar smirked slightly. "How is it that you always know exactly where I am?"

"Well, _someone_ has to keep an eye on you. You might get lost in a city this big." Aila spoke in a clear and calm voice that sounded like an orchestra.

_This __is my mother? _Shadow shook his head. _Can't be…_

Skaar rolled his eyes. "I built most of this city, you know."

Aila waved the comment off. "I doubt you could find your way out of a sack. You know, you have to come home eventually. I know this library project of yours is important to you, but you do have a child now."

Skaar smiled again. "Well, I guess-"

The world shifted again, and Shadow, Knuckles and Tikal found themselves in a throne room somewhere. Shadow whirled around.

"What happened?!?"

Tikal flinched painfully. "I don't know. I-I can't control it… I think we just skipped back at least 6'000 years!" She held her temples. Skaar stalked into the room, looking furious.

"I want that BASTARD found, you hear me?!?" He was followed into the room by the wolverine that had destroyed their plane and a wolf wearing body armor and a cloak. The wolverine looked sympathetic, but the wolf just looked focused. "Mor'gul, you begin interrogating the civilians. Jair, I want you to assign a guard for Aila. Make sure she does not know they are there. Get Vare and Nevid, she doesn't know them and they look inconspicuous. I'll start with the soldiers." The wolverine stepped forward.

"Skaar… how is she?" Skaar glared darkly at the ground.

"She… She is in her room, asleep. Finally. It's going to be a long time before she is the same. We have to find him, Jair." Shadow looked over at Knuckles.

"They are obviously talking about Aila, but isn't that the wolverine that attacked us?" Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah, so if he is Jair, than that makes the wolf Mor'gul. Wait, they're talking again." Mor'gul looked at Skaar's back.

"What do you want us to do if we find the one that… assaulted… her?" Skaar twitched visibly.

_Assaulted? Was she raped?_

"Bring him… to **me**." The world distorted again, and Tikal gasped. Shadow looked over at her. She was sweating heavily, and her eyes were closed. She fell to her hands and knees. Knuckles turned and saw her at that moment and swore.

"Tikal!" The world began to change in strange ways. Gravity and physics lost all meaning. One second, they were in a meadow. Another, they were in a war zone. Tikal was still on her hands and knees, oblivious to the world. She was shivering fitfully, and her face was flushed. "What the hell is wrong with her!?!" Knuckles frantically grabbed her and laid her down, and Shadow pulled off his glove and felt her forehead. Shadow grimaced.

"She's burning up. We have to get out of here." Tikal suddenly screamed and flailed against Knuckles, trying to escape him. She was panting fitfully, and began to writhe against his grip. Shadow leaned backwards as a flailing leg passed by his face. "Hold her down!" Knuckles grabbed her and pinned her arms against her waist. He leaned in next to her ear and began to whisper to her.

"Calm down, you're okay. It's just us, Knuckles and Shadow. Remember me? No one is going to hurt you." Tikal started to kick feebly and whimper, her eyes still closed. Abruptly, the world around them gained symmetry again, and they were back in the black void of Skaar's subconscious. Tikal stopped kicking, and went limp in Knuckles' grip. "Tikal? Tikal!" Knuckles began to set her down and check her vitals when Shadow stopped him.

"Wait. We are not alone." Knuckles looked up, and his eyes widened. Before them stood not only Skaar, but Chaos as well. Skaar glared ominously.

"Find what you wanted?" Knuckles stood up and pointed at him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!?" A ripple went through the void, and Skaar leaned in towards Chaos.

"Chaos wishes to apologize to you. Tikal is a loyal friend and servant _apparently_, but we won't tolerate this. My mind is **my** mind." The void rippled again, and Chaos began to walk towards them. "Now, then. GET OUT." Chaos' arms shot out and struck both Knuckles and Shadow in the face.

Tails smirked at Sonic. "So, having fun?" Sonic looked up from the ground, scowling at the girl on his back.

"Shaddup, fuzz ball, or I'll tell Cream you like her." Tails just smiled.

"I can just do the same thing with Amy. If she knew, she'd never leave you alone." Tails looked back at the shore. The tide had finally brought them to shore, but they were afraid to move Shadow or the others, so they had just set up a temporary camp on the beach. They were within easy walking distance of Tail's lab, so as soon as Shadow and the others came out of their trances they could just walk there. They had already sent Cream home to Vanilla because Vanilla must have been worried sick by then, but the rest of them might as well just stay and wait for the others to wake up. What else did they have to do? Until then, Tails was going to spend his time bugging Sonic.

Sonic looked at Tails and smiled stupidly. "Howzabouts you help me carry this girl? She looks small, but she weighs a ton!" Tails rolled his eyes and wrapped her limp arm around his shoulders to shift some weight. "You know muscle weighs more than fat, and frankly, all of these people from the Valley are the epitome of physical fitness." Suddenly, Amy popped up out of nowhere.

"Yeah, I noticed that too! Did you see how that Skaar guy just grabbed Knuckles and threw him? I want to learn how they get like that! Boxercising is getting too easy." Sonic's eyes widened.

"What about your weights?!?" Amy just looked thoughtful.

"Well, once I got to eighty pounds, it got boring." Sonic gaped and Tails laughed.

"I bet she could beat _you _up now, Sonic." Sonic opened his mouth to argue when a ripple went through the air. Tails looked around. "Huh?" Suddenly a bright light bloomed between Shadow, Knuckles and Tikal and they were all blasted in different directions. While Knuckles and Shadow hit the sand with a thud, Tikal was sent flying into the water. Tikal hit the cold water and her eyes shot open with a small scream. Knuckles bolted to the shoreline and dove in. As he towed her back, Tails noticed that she looked very frail and tired, only emphasized by the bags under her eyes. As soon as Knuckles got close enough to shore to carry her, he scooped her up and she hugged to his frame fearfully, sobbing. She still managed to choke out a few words through her body-wracking cries and whimpers.

"I-I saw! I s-saw w-what they did to th-them!" Tikal held on to Knuckles as if letting go would kill her. "Th-they we-were s-so cruel…" She looked up at Knuckles fearfully, her eyes wide and innocent. "Wh-why?" She buried her face in his chest. "WHY!?!?" After that she broke down completely, wailing and sobbing. Knuckles remained stoic, staring down at her sadly. Shadow just stared.

_What could possibly do this to her?_ He stopped as he noticed that Skaar had awoken as well. He stood there, still bleeding heavily and on the verge of collapse, but stood nonetheless. Shadow looked down at his own arm, which was now matted from his dried blood. As he looked back at Skaar, he pulled out his gun, shaking the saltwater out of it. "You can barely stand as it is. Don't try anything." Skaar just barked a tired and strained laugh.

"What, are you afraid of me? Go on. Shoot. I was too weak to even stop Tikal's mind probe." He looked at Tikal, who had gone down to frightened whimpers and small gasps. "Though I doubt I have to worry about a probe now." Skaar glared at the sand, swaying from his feeble attempt to stand. His voice fell to a gruff whisper. "If I can't kill _him_, I have no reason to live anyway." He looked back up at Shadow, eyes blazing. "Go on! Kill me! KILL ME!" Shadow stepped back, surprised by Skaar's sudden burst of fury.

"H-how?" They all looked at Tikal, who was attempting to stand against Knuckles' protests. "How could you keep living, after all that has happened to you?" She wiped tears out of her eyes. "I saw everything. Your whole life flashed before me. How could you possibly go on?" Shadow looked at her thoughtfully.

How could anyone handle re-living ten thousand years in a matter of seconds? You would explode! Skaar seemed to stare right through her.

"I go on… because there is no one else to bring those fallen to justice. When Mor'gul is dead, I will follow him to the depths of hell." Knuckles raised his head.

"Mor'gul? You mean that wolf?" Amy groaned.

"What the heck are you guys talking about!?! Who is this "Murgall" guy, anyway???" Skaar looked at her, obviously annoyed by the interruption.

"His name is Mor'gul, not Murgall. He is a wolf, and he used to be my third in command in the Valley. He is also responsible for the destruction of my people. He brought in his own troops while I was away hunting; Humans, who we had been contacting since your 1941. He had somehow convinced them that the Valley was vital to their survival, and that we had to go. Tikal, you have seen what they have done. Do you still believe that these human military officials still deserve to live?" Tikal looked at him hesitantly.

"Well, I-" She paused. "Um… I-I don't know. All things deserve a right to live, but…" Her eyes hardened a little. "Y-Yes, they do. They need to be punished by proper law, not this vendetta of yours."

Skaar's mouth curled up in a snarl. "WHAT LAW?!? There is NO law left! THEY ARE THE LAW!" His hands clenched at his sides. "…Do you all believe me wrong? These humans worked with Mor'gul on there own free will, knowing full well what he intended to do. Do to creatures like us." He stared up at them all, searching their souls with his piercing glare. "The human generals did not just exterminate them, you know. Ask Tikal what I found when I returned. Did any of you go into the castle at the center of town while you were there?" He stared at their blank faces. "Bodies. Not just corpses of men, but women and children as well. Dismembered limbs, body-less heads… they did not just kill, they massacred my people. People **I **was given charge of by Chaos himself. DO YOU STILL BELIEVE ME WRONG?!?" He was panting furiously by now, eyes blazing with a furious light. His eyes were no longer pools of magma, but golden volcanoes, erupting with his fury. Shadow looked at the others, and saw their fearful and uncertain faces. He had a feeling that he looked the same way. Finally, Knuckles stepped forward.

"The law must punish them, not you, no matter what the reasons. To kill them yourself, you would only be stooping to their level." One by one, the others began to step forward, until Shadow was the last. He looked at Skaar defiantly.

"I know firsthand what vengeance can do to someone. I refuse to go down that path again. The law is the right way." Skaar looked at them all, last of all Shadow, who was still pointing the pistol at him. He barked a remorseful laugh again.

"… I see. Do you intend to stop me?" Shadow looked at the others before turning back and nodding. Skaar looked at Tikal. "I give up on trying to convince you, so you must all die." Before Shadow could react, black tendrils reached out of Skaar's body and struck away the gun. More sprouted from his fingertips, grabbing each one of the helpless Sonicteam members by the throat. All even Amy, who was the farthest from Skaar, could get out was a small, abruptly cut off scream. Shadow gasped and struggled against his bindings, but to no avail.

_How can he still be this strong?!?_ Gurgling and gasping, he frantically tore at the thick cord of darkness around his throat, but it would not go away. He looked at Skaar and saw Death behind his eyes. This… is the end. Skaar looked back at him remorsefully.

"I am sorry it had to end this way." Shadow looked to his sides at the other Sonicteam members. One by one, they all began to stop struggling and go limp. Suddenly, all movement stopped as a small groan was heard from behind the Sonicteam members. Skaar's eyes widened as he stared past Shadow. As the darkness closed in around Shadow's eyes, he looked back and saw only the unnamed girl sprawled on the beach, exactly where she had fallen when Sonic and Tails dropped her. But right before he blacked out, Shadow could have sworn he saw a twinkle in a half opened eye.

* * *

_Skaar: _There you have it. I like this chapter, personally, but if you don't approve, REVIEW and tell me what is wrong with it.

_Knuckles: _Hee... Knuckles got Tikal this time!

_Tails: _?????

_OC Skaar: _Don't question him. He got into the Vikadin.


	12. The Chaos Theory

_Skaar:_ HAH! Almost a month later, and I updated! Sorry about the long wait, but I'm going to get an F in Geometry for this... So be happy.

_Shadow:_ Over a full month later, actually.

_Skaar: _(_Hangs head in shame)_

* * *

Recap: As the darkness closed in around Shadow's eyes, he looked back and saw only the unnamed girl sprawled on the beach, exactly where she had fallen when Sonic and Tails dropped her. But right before he blacked out, Shadow could have sworn he saw a twinkle in a half opened eye.

* * *

Shadow looked around and found himself within his subconscious. At least, _someone's _subconscious. _I'm getting very tired of being knocked out. Okay, where am I now?_ He looked around and saw only the blackness of an empty mind. _Huh. Now how to get out of… Wait… what is that?_ Shadow squinted at the darkness in front of him curiously. _I thought I saw… Never mind. Doesn't matter, anyway. _He went to turn away, but heard a noise and looked back. He found himself face to face with Aila. "You!?!? What are you doing here?!" Aila looked at him curiously. 

"Here? Where is here?"

Shadow awoke with a small start. He was lying on the sand. _That was strange…_ He sat up and stared around. Skaar was gone again, and they were alive. _I wonder if anyone else is noticing the distinct pattern of "Skaar attempting to kill us, then mysteriously disappearing and leaving us alive" yet. I almost wish he would kill us just to break that annoying and cliché pattern of his. _Shadow rubbed the bruises on his neck from Skaar's attack painfully. Those were going to last a while. Shadow looked behind him. That girl from the valley was gone, too. _Did she wake up, or was I just seeing things and Skaar took her when we passed out? I could have sworn she woke up, though… _Shadow realized with no small amount of embarrassment that he had been awake all this time and not even noticed that he was alone. _God… I'm getting slow. I wonder if all that time that the military kept me in cryo-sleep is catching up on me…_ _Where did they go? _Shadow looked around with unease. _I wonder if Skaar finished them…_ Eventually he remembered that Tail's Lab was nearby, and decided to try there. As Shadow walked the small path to the lab, he looked around. _It's been a long time since I was here… Back when Emerl was still alive, I think… _Fortunately it was a small walk, because Shadow did not like to reminisce about the past. It… unsettled him.

When he got to the lab, the first thing he noticed was that it looked active and in use. Strangely, he felt a small bit of relief, knowing that someone was in there. As he pushed open the door, the second thing he noticed was that everyone was in the lab. Amy looked up and smiled from her chair when she saw him walking in, while Sonic jumped up from his seat on the counter and smirked. Tails was bent over something, probably one of his inventions. Knuckles was sitting on the edge of the cot Tails kept in there in case he was working too late, and he was looking down at Tikal who was curled up on the cot, asleep. As he lifted his foot to step inside, the third thing he noticed is that although they were smiling at him, there was a crushing tension in the room. And finally, as his foot hit the floor, he noticed Skaar staring back at him.

Shadow's eyes widened as he pulled out his pistol and fired at Skaar. As with all of the other times, black tendrils effortlessly caught the bullets until Shadow's clip was empty. Skaar stared back impassively. "I _really_ would have hoped that you had figured out that that doesn't work by now." Shadow looked at the others and realized that they were fully aware of Skaar, hence the tension.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Shadow jabbed an accusing finger at Skaar, who looked back as if contemplating how to kill Shadow. Tails looked at Skaar hesitantly.

"Well… When I woke up, he grabbed me and asked me where my medical equipment was…" Knuckles looked at Skaar dangerously.

"His exact words were "Where is the nearest human recovery facility?"." Skaar looked back at Knuckles with a bored expression. Apparently, Knuckles was determined to get on Skaar's bad side. He always had had a temper, but he seemed particularly dedicated to making Skaar look like a fool. Good luck with that…

Tails carried on, ignoring the one-sided squabble. "When I told him about the lab, he forced us to take him there. We tried to wake you up, but he wouldn't let us…" Tails looked at Shadow apologetically. "Anyway, when we got inside, he went through one of those portals of his. Before we could sneak off, he reappeared with that girl, who seemed to be half conscious. He laid her out on a table and made me hook her up to an IV. After that, she faded out again. I managed to bargain with him. If I treated her-"

"I wouldn't finish the job I started on the beach." Skaar stared past Tails at Shadow. "Or…" Skaar scowled darkly. "The human generals…" Shadow did not think Skaar could have scowled more ominously, but he still managed to. Shadow looked past them all towards an open door behind Knuckles. Through it, he could see a heart monitor and an IV stand at the end of a bed.

"She must be of great importance for you to give up your cause like that for her." Skaar looked at Shadow for a moment, before turning his head towards the wall.

"Fool. You still don't remember anything, do you?" Skaar looked at Shadow out of the corner of his eye. "If you don't, then she is none of your business. Besides, I never said that I gave up my goal, as you put it."

Shadow felt his back stiffen, and he saw Knuckles react the same way. "What do you mean by that?" Sonic did not stiffen like they did, but he did seem to prepare for an attack. Despite his recent goofballish behavior, Sonic was one person that Shadow _knew _he could rely on.

Skaar looked at them with a bored look on his face. "Calm down. Unlike Mor'gul, I am a man of my word. I have merely redirected my targets." He leaned back onto the kitchen counter behind him. (Tail's lab is too small, so his kitchen is the same room as his lab.) I do not like your decision to side with those _bastard _humans, but you have forced me into a corner. The humans say that you are the most effective fighters in this time. From what I have seen, you are all hopeless." Knuckles scowled. He never had taken insults well. "But…" Skaar sighed. "Raw as you all may be, you are the only chance we have." Skaar closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "You all need to know what trouble you are all in."

His eyes drifted past Tikal, who was showing signs of waking up, into the room were the IV bag was visible. "As you all know, the Valley was the target for a mass human military assault. You also know that Mor'gul was behind that attack, and that he was the main choreographer. What I discovered while you were still out, Shadow, I checked a few of my sources in the government-" Amy jumped up from her seat.

"Waaaiiiiiiiit! How did YOU get connections in the government if they think you are out for humanity?" Skaar eyed her, obviously annoyed by the interruption.

"Not all humans are evil. Even I know that. I have friends back from the first contact. A few guards to some research outposts, things like that Well, I've always had an eye for talent. It has been sixty years since then, and many of them were promoted with age. A few research personnel, Three two-star generals, and a five-star general. They know me far too well to believe the reports. They discovered that although that particular attack was fully backed by the human leaders, it was so only because of a man that they call the Secretary of Defense. Apparently, Mor'gul had struck a deal with the corrupt fool, and the Secretary blackmailed and bribed the rest. The ones who were bribed will be found out, of course, but I did not swear to hold back against _him_. He sighed and stared back at the room that the girl was in, seeing them stiffen up again. "You did not once mention him. The deal was that I allow the generals to be processed by law, and you help her recover. Besides, you let me rest and patched up my arm." He gestured towards his arm, which was wrapped in bloody gauze wrap. "What do you think you can do?" Shadow looked down at his empty gun.

Crap… He's completely right… Shadow groaned. "Well, what now? You go searching for the Secretary of Defense, and we get into another pointless skirmish?" Skaar shook hi head. 

"This is the part I told you about. Where I tell you what kind of trouble you are in? Well, to put it simply, Mor'gul isn't particularly inclined to any race, even fellow anthropomorphic wolves." Sonic scratched his head.

"What does anthro… uh, that word mean?" Tails shook his head.

"It's a Greek sub-phrase used for categorizing. In this case, it means wolves with human-like appearances. We are anthropomorphic beings, Sonic."

Sonic nodded. "Oh. How do you learn all of that stuff, anyway?" Tails smiled.

"I take part in a lot of scientific forums online. The humans actually have a very good categorical system." Skaar glared again. He obviously didn't like interruptions. Or he was full of himself. Only time would tell that.

"Anyway, he is not racist or sexist in any way. He'll kill anyone he wants to, regardless of Species or gender. Mor'gul is a hardened fighter, and although I am nearing 11,000 years myself…" Knuckles' eyes widened.

"What? Your age? HOLY CRAP!!!"

Skaar scowled ominously. That was the third time he was interrupted. "He is older than me by at least twenty years. He is a monster. Do you all know of the one they call Mephiles the Dark?" They stared at each other blankly.

_That name seems so familiar…_ It was like an itch in the back of Shadow's head, one that he just couldn't scratch. (In Sonic the Hedgehog, Time was changed after the event with Mephiles. No one has any memory of the event.)

"Mephiles is a demi-god, similar to Chaos. But where Chaos is a positive effect in the world-" Sonic laughed a little.

"Chaos? A POSITIVE effect?!? He tried to destroy the world!" Skaar's gaze locked on Sonic.

"The world wronged him. Betrayed him. When he offered his power to the Third Civilization, they tried to use it to destroy him and acquire even more power. He was merely trying to exact his revenge, like me. He is pacified now. Have you ever heard of the Chaos Theory? One of my contacts told me of a phenomenon that might interest you. Scientists are at present taking plant specimens and then putting them first in automated conditions, then random ones. The results show that random weather conditions advance plant growth by fifty percent. Same with the planet itself. Your world apparently spins in an oval around the sun. If it spun in a perfect circle, then the seasons would be nonexistent. Not only that, but your planet would most likely implode just because of the abnormal gravity conditions that this would cause. Well, if it didn't hit the sun first. If your universe was perfect, galaxies would be colliding from these same gravity conditions. Living things base their existence on imperfection. It's how you know you are alive. What would you all do if you didn't have problems to fix? Millions of people's jobs would be irrelevant. Thousands would die, and in the poor areas, diseases unknown to a perfect world would start to breed. The weakened immune systems of those unused to disease in this perfect would ensure the obliteration of every living thing in the universe. This mass death would create the paradox of imperfection in a perfect universe, and the impossibility of the before mentioned paradox would result in the implosion of the entire universe. Not just your existence, your entire UNIVERSE is based on random chaos. "Life thrives in chaos", that is the theory. So if you insult the name of Chaos again, I'll kill you." His piercing gaze seemed to impale Sonic, who was taken aback Skaar's explanation of the universe. 

Skaar sighed. "As I was saying…"

Shadow winced. _Wow. That was… different. _

"…Mephiles has a negative effect. Now while Mor'gul is strong on his own, he is even stronger now. He has done something called _Riekar_, or "Shadow possession." Basically, he allowed his body to be used as a vessel so that Mephiles, who could not enter our world, to cross between the worlds at will. In his present state, he is too strong for even me… But you must understand, Secretary of State or not, Mor'gul is the true enemy. He must be stopped before he can take this world in the fashion that he took the Valley."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "So how are we supposed to help? We can't even beat you."

Skaar raised a hand, and black tendrils glowing with a strange light seeped out. They grabbed Shadow by the arms and legs, and then solidified into small cuffs around his ring bracelets and anklets. Suddenly, Shadow felt a crushing weight pulling him down onto all fours. "Ngh!" The others started to take a step towards him when Skaar wave them off.

"Time to give you the Crash Course on acquiring power."

* * *

_Skaar:_ One of the slightly more desctiptive chapters, as you may have noticed. That Chaos Theory thing? That is actually a scientific theory and those are the statistics. And Skaar lost his temper again. 

_OC Skaar:_ Screw you. I did not lose my temper.

_Skaar: _Screw you? Isn't that a little modern for an 11,000 year old?

_OC Skaar:_ I've been talking to Sonic.

_Skaar:_...


	13. VERY brief training session

_Skaar;_ Too busy. Sorry for updating so late. Gotta go. AUGH! MORE HOMEWORK! Wait till summer, I'll update A LOT more.

* * *

_Recap;_

"Ngh!" The others started to take a step towards him when Skaar waved them off.

"Time to give you the Crash Course on acquiring power."

* * *

"What the hell?!" Shadow cringed at the massive weight bearing down on him. It was all he could do to keep from folding onto his stomach. "Wh-What is going on?!" He could hear his bones creaking under the pressure. Skaar stared at him impassively.

"Those black rings around your wrists and ankles are concentrated vessels filled with my energy. Their presence alone is crushing your aura. I originally intended to input about three fourths of the pressure you are experiencing, but I overestimated you. I had no idea that you had fallen so far. Wait, what are those rings around your wrists?" Skaar pointed curiously at the power rings directly under the ones he had just placed. Shadow painfully raised his head.

"Th-they… they limit my power to extend my stamina…" Skaar glared.

"Who told you that? The humans? BAH!" Skaar flexed his hand. The rings floating around his wrists contracted, crushing the power rings below. Shadow cringed. _He crushed FOUR power rings? How much force can he put behind those attacks of his? I should keep track of these things…_ Suddenly, Shadow felt his reserves of power surging through his body. The pressure around him suddenly became considerably lighter, to the point where he could stand, if only barely. Shadow shakily stood again.

"You… do you know what you just did?" Shadow shakily raised a hand and pointed at Skaar. "Those didn't just add to my stamina! They extended my life force!" Skaar sat down on the counter and stared at Shadow with that piercing glare of his.

"If you believe that, then you are just as foolish as the humans who tricked you into thinking that. Those rings are chains. Made by the humans to keep Anthropomorphics like us from dominating the planet like we did those thousands of years ago. Rings like the ones that you see scattered about in the more isolated parts of the world are different. Those are just anomalies, made by Chaos. Rings like those, however, simply place locks on you to harness your power to a more manageable level. The only reason that your stamina is diminished is your own inability to handle your own power."

Shadow gaped. "Wait, what? But… the doctor and Maria… You're lying. You have to be." Skaar's face darkened.

"I'm not some human, susceptible to little temptations like lying. What I say is my bond. I would not lie, even to a weakened fool like you. Now, I suggest you prepare yourself. It's time that I unlock the power that sits latent within you." Sonic groaned.

"Not that this isn't _fascinating_ or anything, but what about us? Are we just going to sit here, helpless, while some crazy plots our death?" Skaar directed that glaring look of his to Sonic.

"As much as I loathe to say it, you have a point. I do not know what I can do with you, but we'll see. Right now, Shadow is my priority."

Shadow slumped slightly.

"I can barely stand with these weights…" Skaar's face lit up in fury.

"DO YOU THINK THAT DEATH WILL WAIT FOR YOU TO BE READY?!" Skaar's hand shot out and a black tendril as wide around as a small tree hit Shadow in the stomach with the force of a train. Shadow spit out blood as he was thrown into the air. "DEATH DOES NOT FEEL MERCY!" Shadow was intercepted in mid-air by another tendril and ground into the concrete below.

"Ungh!" Knuckles took a half step forward.

"You're going to kill him!" Skaar did not seem to notice him at all.

"DEATH DOES NOT FEEL PITY!" Shadow felt himself being picked up into the air. Suddenly, he was blasted through one of Tail's windows. He skidded across the road painfully, scraping open his skin in various places. His pain was only amplified as the rocks from the pavement dug into his open wounds. A woman gasped as he came to a stop on the side of the road.

"Gaaah…" Shadow could not find the power to move. Even with his power rings removed, Shadow felt like an empty husk. He felt an ominous presence standing over him. Shadow used the last of his strength to stare up. Skaar stood over him, his face covered in shadow. He crouched down, bringing his face closer to Shadow's. A small tendril lifted Shadow's chin up, forcing him to maintain eye contact.

"And make no assumptions. When you train with me, you face death." Skaar's face hardened again, and he ground Shadow's face into the pavement, causing him to black out. "Feh. Still a weakling."

Shadow awoke slowly. Not to mention painfully. _Ow…_ _Where am I…?_ He looked around painfully and realized that he was in a room in Tail's lab. Skaar was leaning against the wall near him.

"Finally awake? Good. Now, as much as I'd like to get to our first "Lesson", we have been called to a meeting of some sort with what the humans call the President. Normally, I'd not let such a trivial matter stop me, but from what I've heard, this might be a good time to show you something." Shadow stared at him quizzically.

"What?"

"You'll know." With that, Skaar grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the door. Shadow was sent stumbling through the house, probably looking quite the idiot. He finally managed to slow himself down as he got to the front door. Shadow tried to regain his balance, but found that he still had those massive weights on his arms. After an awkward little dance, Shadow fell to the ground. He looked back as Skaar, who was striding slowly towards him.

"Why are these still on?" Skaar used that infamous glare on him yet again.

"You are going to get stronger and help me. Your only other choice is death." Shadow almost cringed at the solid cold steel behind his voice.

_We're practically his captives…_ Shadow staggered upright, still barely capable of remaining standing. Shadow walked outside and found himself face to face with a limo. "Well, this is fairly conspicuous…" as Shadow leaned into the limo, he hesitantly put one foot on the limo floor. He was surprised to find that it supported his weight easily.

"Only you can feel the weight, Shadow. It won't affect anyone else." Shadow sighed.

_Well, that's comforting if I want to add some force to my punches… Without the added stopping power, I'll have the force of a young human girl. _Shadow sat down, and was surprised to find Skaar ducking in and sitting across from him. "You don't seem the type to put your hands in the effectiveness of a machine." Skaar grimaced in disgust.

"I can smell the pollution coming from this thing from here. This is one type of Chaos that I don't approve of. Even so, I need to… think." Shadow blinked.

_Why the hesitation?_ Skaar spent the entire drive staring at Shadow, probing him with those eyes of his. _Why is he staring at me…?_ Abruptly the car came to a stop. Skaar stepped out of the limo as fast as he could. They were outside of the GUN building. _Perfect._ _Of all the places…_ Skaar strutted forward, and Shadow was forced to follow. The guards at the building were anxious to let a stranger in, especially with the recent events at Mission Island, but finally gave in after a few death threats on Skaar's part and Shadow's pass. Everywhere the walked in the building, people pointed and whispered at the four foot tall hedgehog with the purple spikes and black cloak. _Wow. He's conspicuous…_ Skaar seemed to ignore it, but it made Shadow feel a little nervous. _Any minute, someone's going to connect him to Mission Island…_ Fortunately, no one did. At first. As they entered the room that a previous guard had identified as the meeting point for "Those things from that Sonicteam", Amy stood up from a chair and smiled.

"Shadow! They-" A guard standing down the hall gasped, and pulled his machine gun up to his side.

"D-Don't move! I-I know who you are! Y-you're not getting in there! How did you even get this far?!" Skaar sighed.

"My infamy stops me again." Skaar lifted a finger. The guard twitched nervously.

"Wh-what are you doing?" A small black flash glanced past the guard. The guard jumped, and began to fire blindly. "UUAAA!" All that came out of the gun were clicking noises. "WHA?!" Skaar remained stoic as always.

"Next time, turn off the safety lock." The guard stared stupefied at his weapon. Amy took this opportunity to complete her sentence.

"They won't let me in… The others are in there. Something about a video signal…" Shadow looked at her quizzically.

"Hm? Oh, it doesn't matter. I'll find out when I get in." As they walked past the guard, he shivered a little.

"Th-the safety _was_ off…" Skaar flicked the gun out of his hand as he passed.

"Exactly. Now get out of my way." As they entered the room, Skaar was yet again met with apprehension. Almost immediately, every guard in the room was pointing a gun at him.

"Don't move!" Skaar's fist tightened, and he gave them one of his darkest stares yet.

"Do you really want to try? You fools are just expendable foot soldiers." The guards flinched a little and slowly raised their weapons. Shadow stepped towards one of them.

"Where are the others?" The guard pointed hesitantly at a door behind him.

"Uh… Th-there…" Shadow passed them, trying to keep the crushing weight that he was experiencing as unobvious as he could.

"Thank you. Now, what is this meeting about?" After a small period of silence, Shadow pulled out his GUN badge and waved it from side to side. "Well? I know you ambitious types like to listen in on these meetings." The guard shivered as he passed him.

"They said that they had cornered a wolf on Mission Island. They have a live video in there." Skaar's eyes widened. He darted forward and grabbed the guard by the shirt, lifting him off of the ground. By now, the only thing that surprised Shadow is the impossibility of a four foot tall hedgehog lifting up a six foot tall human without having to grab his pants instead of his shirt.

"Did they say a name? WHAT WAS THE NAME?!" The guard stared fearfully down at him. Skaar's eyes were like those golden volcanoes again, and the curve of his jaw combined with the snarl on his face was enough to make the guard piss himself.

"Um… Th-th-they said something like M-Morgan or something…"

Skaar's eyes slanted. "Mor'gul." He dropped the guard to the ground with a scowl. "Just as I thought. Those fools have no idea what they're getting into." He stormed into the room, Shadow following close behind. Sonic was sitting on a table in the room already, and Knuckles was there too. Tails was nowhere to be seen. Other faces included the President, a few anonymous general looking people, and Eggman. As surprised as Shadow was to see Eggman there, he could not turn away from the figure on the television screen in front of them. The image was most likely coming from a gun sentry robot, as it was in black and white. Even so, it was distinctly showing ten Gun soldiers with machine guns and pistols at the ready, all of them pointing at a lone figure. _Mor'gul, I presume._

_

* * *

Skaar;_ Too busy to comment. Gotta go. Sorry again.


	14. Clouded Revelations

_Skaar;_ Here it is. I actually update in less than a month! Woo!

_Shadow;_ He forgot to mention the last few chaps, but Skaar doesn't own anyone mentioned here except for Skaar and Mor'gul. Well, technically, he owns the GUN soldier named William Berrington too, but he's irrelevent.

_

* * *

_

Recap; The image was most likely coming from a gun sentry robot, as it was in black and white. Even so, it was distinctly showing ten Gun soldiers with machine guns and pistols at the ready, all of them pointing at a lone figure. _Mor'gul, I presume._

* * *

It couldn't be anyone else. The wolf standing across from them was as tall as any one of the people pointing the guns at him, and he was leaning on a sword and sheath as if it were a cane. The GUN soldiers kept their weapons raised as one of them stepped forward. "Hey, buddy! Drop the sword and put your hands up!" He gestured threateningly with his pistol. Mor'gul's head was bowed, covering his face in shadow. He did not move. The gun soldier's face lit up furiously. "I _said,_ drop the sword and put your hands up! You deaf?!" Skaar stared at the video screen darkly.

"How fast is the frame rate of this camera?" A man in a brown trench coat working a control panel half glanced at him while still focusing on his work.

"That's state of the art material you got there. That particular GUN sentry is updated to take three frames in a single millisecond!" Skaar kept staring at the screen.

"Good. You are going to need the fastest you can get." Mor'gul still was not moving. The soldier looked furious.

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU! Who do you think you're dealing with?!" Mor'gul's neck rolled slowly in its socket, bringing his head up. The sun finally struck a distinctly handsome face, with a charming corner of the lip smile. His smile seemed like a real lady-killer at first, but all it seemed to do in Shadow's opinion was show off a very sharp wolf canine. When his head rose, the entire patrol including the cocky man with the pistol took a step back. "Wha-!?" Shadow eyed them curiously.

"What's wrong with them?" Skaar glanced at Shadow slowly before turning back to the screen.

"There's something about him, something that can't be duplicated by a camera. He has a presence about him that leaves you feeling weak. But that is easy to suppress, even for people like them. What you really must avoid is his eyes. I cannot describe it to you, but you will know yourself someday. These mere foot soldiers don't stand a chance." A very official looking man in a general's outfit barked a laugh.

"Against ten armed soldiers at this range? I don't know where you come from, but here on Earth, that wolf is screwed." Skaar's fiery stare pierced right through him.

"Where _I_ come from, they should be dead by all rights already." Mor'gul's smile widened at the sight of the soldiers' fear.

"I know _exactly _who I'm dealing with." Mor'gul's eyes glinted as he slowly raised his sword and grabbed the hilt with his right hand. His voice was deep and resounding. "William Berrington. Your father called you Slick in high school. Enrolled in GUN after the Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia. You quickly excelled to the top of the rosters, eventually becoming the captain of the special op strike team you are threatening me with now. Your wife, Autumn Berrington, had birthed you a girl and twin boys, and is two weeks pregnant with your next one." The soldier's eyes widened.

"H-How…" Mor'gul's eyes glinted.

"Ah. Didn't know that, did you? Well, I should wrap this up. You were born December 2nd, 1969." His eyes slanted lightly as his head bowed and he put his sword under his left arm. His hand hovered over the sword hilt dangerously. "This day… will be marked as your last." The soldier was shaking nervously.

"F-FIRE!" The other soldiers prepared their weapons as he fired off a round at Mor'gul. As soon as the first muzzle flash could be seen, the camera went dead. The general slammed his hand down on the table he was sitting at.

"What the hell happened?!" He pointed at the man in the brown trench coat. "Get that image back up! Replay that clip!" The camera rewound and stopped at the exact point that the gun fired. As it started again, the screen went blank yet again. "What the hell is going on here?! Damn technological crap!" Skaar said something as he was yelling. "What?" Skaar's eyes did not avert from the screen.

"Play it again." The general scoffed.

"What? Do you see something we don't?"

This time, Skaar's eyes did avert from the television. The man in the trench coat flinched as he felt Skaar's gaze land on him. "Now." He nervously turned back to his control panel. The image rewound again and stopped at the gunshot. As the man with the trench coat went to press play, he stopped. The general scowled.

"What are you doing?! Just press the button!" The man remained still. "I _Said,-_" Skaar held up his hand.

"You fool. We are in a chaos control bubble. He is pushing the button, just slowly for our eyes." Shadow stared at Skaar quizzically.

_Chaos Control?_ Skaar stared at him.

"I am blessed with the power of Chaos, if you remember correctly." He stared back at the screen.

There was a small space of no movement, then the shot fired slowly. Shadow could follow the bullet as it slowly flew towards Mor'gul. Mor'gul's hand was sluggishly drifting towards his sword hilt. When the bullet was about halfway between them, Mor'gul's hand finally rested on the hilt.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Suddenly, The ground under Mor'gul's foot cracked under an immense force as he catapulted forward, his sword flying out of the sheath. Dust and dirt were thrown into the air as his foot left the ground, leaving a small cracked and cratered area where his foot had been. He moved as if he was not at all affected by the Chaos control. Blasting through the air at a speed rivaling Sonic's normally, his sword arm resting at his side. Suddenly, he began to spin like a top, his body parallel to the round. Within less than a second, even in the chaos control bubble, it was all over. Mor'gul's feet finally touched the ground behind the soldiers as his sword rested at his side. Suddenly, in a burst of blood, the GUN soldiers on the screen seemed to tear themselves apart. It was rather gruesome to watch, but that was not what Shadow was focusing on. All he could see was that one bullet that had escaped the gun, slowly splitting as the strike that had hit it in the flurry of attacks became apparent. It was split _exactly_ down the center, the cut parallel to the ground. _That is too exact to be a coincidence… but how?_ Mor'gul slowly turned to the camera, smiling ever so slightly. Again, the earth crumbled under his feet as blasted towards the camera, his blade flickering as it pierced the camera lens with a thrust. With the lens impaled, the camera obviously stopped transmitting. As time reverted back to normal, the silence in the room was deafening. Eggman leaned back in his chair.

"So, this is what you called me here for under neutral terms, eh? Well, if you want my help…" He smiled deviously, obviously considering what he was going to ask for. Skaar's head rose as he turned towards Eggman, his cloak billowing behind him.

"You are useless here, tinkerer. All you could ever do is stall. The only thing that can take him down is quality, not quantity." Eggman glared and opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted as the President raised a hand.

"Wait. Many of you here are probably wondering why you are here." Skaar scoffed.

"I think that's obvious. Not everyone is as foolish as your underlings." The president gave Skaar a hard look that only a practiced politician could pull off.

"I meant why of all people, Dr. Ivo, a known terrorist, and you are here. He has been a constant threat to us, and it's becoming common knowledge that you are the one behind the attack on our Mission Island research facility." Skaar darkened visibly.

"Research facility? My people were like lab rats to you… _humans._" He spat on the floor when he said that. The president's face did not change.

"I apologize for anything that happened to you, but what GUN does is not really under my control. They're controlled by a separate branch of the government." Skaar barked out another one of his gravelly sarcastic laughs.

"You are the executive leader of this country, aren't you? Where I come from, the leader applies punishment to the wrongdoers but takes the blame for being too ignorant to see it coming." The president turned away towards the others.

"As I was saying-" Skaar shook his head in disgust.

"I don't have time for you blind fools. Time is precious, and Mor'gul approaches." He turned his back and began to walk towards the door. When he got to the frame, he paused. "Shadow, come with me. You don't have time to stand around either." When Shadow hesitated, he was dragged out of the room by his wrist and ankle bracelets, which seemed to be drawn to Skaar rather forcefully. _What kind of power do these bracelets give him over me? _Shadow ground his head into his palm. _I'm like a puppet to a crazed man I don't even know. What are Skaar's intentions…? There's still far too much I don't know about him._ _Can he be trusted not to kill us in our sleep…?_ Skaar stopped in the waiting room as Amy stood up.

"What's going on in there? What's so important that they can't let me see?! I went to Mission Island too!" Obviously, Amy was very flustered. She was never one for just sitting in one place without doing anything. Shadow groaned.

"We didn't really stay long enough to find out." Skaar half glanced behind him as he continued walking.

"I suggest you keep moving. Walking in those weights will help you adapt." He eyed Amy. "Are you coming or staying?" Amy looked at the door curiously.

"Well, my Sonniku is in there, but it's so boring out here…" She smiled happily. "So I guess I'll go with you!" Skaar rolled his eyes in irritation at her upbeat personality.

"Fine. I might be able to think of some use for you in the upcoming war." Skaar navigated the building quickly with Shadow and now Amy in tow. Outside they got into the limousine, which took them back to Tail's lab. The whole time back, Amy futilely tried to make conversation.

"So…" She smiled. "You said you had a family once, right?" She looked expectantly to Skaar. That constantly piercing gaze of his turned towards her.

"My past is not yours. Therefore, stay out of it." Her smile slowly faded as that gaze began to get to her. She turned away, mumbling.

"Maybe I should have just waited for Sonniku…"

When they finally got there, Skaar stepped out of the limousine quickly. "Get moving. We have a lot of work to do, and I'm not going to be stopping to come back every time you get thirsty." Shadow stared at Skaar quizzically.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes. You are going to spend every day you can with me, constantly fighting. You need to improve considerably more If you think to even dent Mor'gul's wrath." He pushed the door open. "From now on, you…" He stopped abruptly, staring straight forward with a look of surprise and amazingly… the tiniest inkling of relief. Shadow stepped around him.

"What are you staring at?" Shadow stopped in surprise as he saw. The young girl, the one from the Valley, was slumped against the doorframe to her room, gasping as she used it to hold herself up. She lifted her head painfully, eyes locking onto Skaar. She opened her mouth and made a small rasping noise. She coughed and shuddered, before opening her mouth and speaking in a gravelly, quiet voice. It would probably be like that for a while, as her only exposure to water had been from her IV still stuck in her arm.

"Hi… Dad."

* * *

_Skaar;_ OOO, the suspense, the suprise, the drama!

_Shadow;_ So that's who she was...


	15. A light in the blackness

_Skaar; _HA! Take that, naysayers! Less than a month again!

_Tails;_ Nope. Nine days too late.

_Skaar;_ Aw...TT...

_Shadow;_ Skaar does not own anyone or anything mentioned here other than the Valley of Chaos, Mor'gul, and Skaar. And the plot of course. Oh, and Luna is property of Youtube's infamous Luna Moondragon, Skaar's trusted cousin and friend. Stop crying you wuss...

_Recap;_ She coughed and shuddered, before opening her mouth and speaking in a gravelly, quiet voice. It would probably be like that for a while, as her only exposure to water had been from her IV still stuck in her arm.

* * *

"Hi… Dad."

Shadow looked at Skaar with staggering surprise. _DAD!? He has a daughter?! _She began to slowly slide forward as her grip softened on the doorframe, the IV in her arm tearing out as she fell to her knees. Skaar's eyes widened as he rushed into the room, falling to one knee and sliding his hand behind her back to hold her up. His eyes hardened as he looked down at her, letting her down on to the ground softly and pulling back his hand. His glove was thickly saturated in blood.

"Don't strain yourself… You've somehow managed to survive this far, I'm not going to let you die now." She shuddered as he slowly lifted her forward again, looking behind her at her back. "When did you get this?" Shadow circled around behind her, crouching down near Skaar. She had a jagged slash arching down her back, and it looked rotten enough to have been infected for some time. It was a dull pinkish color, and had a sickly swelling to it.

_The folds of her shirt must have covered it up. I guess not all of the blood on my arm was mine. An infection like that explains why she was unconscious so long, too. I should have my arm checked out in case she transferred the infection… _Skaar began to slowly lift her up, avoiding touching her back as best he could as he slowly slid her into her cot again. Amy of course chose now to make her appearance, walking into the building casually.

"Sorry, I dropped something on my way out of the limo, and I-" Her eyes brightened up a little as she gasped, noticing Skaar and the girl for the first time. "She's awake again?" Skaar's grip slipped on the blood, and Amy saw a brief glimpse of the wound as he jumped to catch his daughter. "Omygosh! I'll go get the bandages and stuff!" She ran off into the kitchen, not even stopping to look at the wound. The girl forced herself to sit up against her pillows despite Skaar's attempts to hold her down, grimacing in pain as she leaned back on her wound. She slowly opened her cracked lips again, leaning back until her head was sitting on the metal frame headboard of her small hospital cot.

"The Valley… Where are we, father?" She cringed in pain again as Skaar touched her left arm. He recoiled sharply, before gently feeling it out again.

"Don't worry, Luna. You're safe now. We all are… At least for now." Luna bit her lower lip as he gently felt across her arm.

"…It's broken, in at least three places I think… Dad, what about mom?" Shadow started to enter the room, but thought otherwise as he saw the look on Skaar's face. He looked sad, worn out suddenly.

"…No. We're the only ones left…" Luna slowly bent her head back down, her head resting on the top of her chest as her shoulders slumped under an unseen emotional weight. Amy suddenly came rushing in, holding a small bag with the trademark first aid cross on it.

"Okay… I know a thing or two about this, so hold her still… Skaar, would you mind flipping her over for me? I need to see her back." Shadow eyed her curiously.

"…Are you completely sure that you know what you are doing?" Amy pulled a handkerchief out of a small pocket on the skirt part of her dress, tying it around her hair as she winked at him innocently.

"Don't worry about it! I've taken a few classes since my Sonniku is always getting hurt, that way I can patch him up!" She started rummaging through the first aid bag, looking every bit the nurse, as Skaar turned Luna over with a grimace on her part.

"Who… are these people, Dad?" Skaar noticed the IV needle lying on the floor, picking it up and sending a small electric charge through it to heat and sterilize it. He pulled the IV stand over, and slowly injected the IV needle into her arm again.

"Don't worry, they're here to help you. Soon enough, you'll feel fine again. You'll see..." Luna winced a little as the needle entered her arm, but tried to lie as flat and still as possible as Amy leaned over her.

"Now I'm not old enough to take a medical class at a college or anything, so I can't sew you up, but I can at least patch you up…" She pulled out a large tube of cream labeled "antibacterial solution" in Tail's handwriting. "Um… this is the strongest stuff in here, but it's really going to sting…" She pulled out a small pair of scissors, cutting away the back of Luna's shirt. After that, she squirted a large glob of the pale translucent salve into her hand, and began gently spreading it across the wound. Luna cringed as she did so, bunching the blankets under her hands as she clenched them painfully. You could see a single tear run down her face. Shadow sighed.

_You can't rally blame her for crying. She's so badly infected, the solution is actually bubbling a little. I wonder how she lasted so long like this… _Amy wiped her hand off on her dress absentmindedly as she reached into the bag with her other arm, trading out the big tube for a thick roll of gauze wrap.

"Hmm… I don't see any bandage or cloth in here… Tails must have used the last on your arm, Skaar. I'd better go sterilize a wash cloth or something…" She set the gauze on the bedside stand and walked back to the kitchen again. Luna ground her teeth as the antibacterial solution started to hiss a little as stagnant air escaped from the dying bacteria. Shadow shook his head, coming in and grabbing a chair.

"How could she live this long?" Skaar opened his mouth, but Luna slowly propped herself up, somehow managing to hold the tatters of her shirt around her with her broken arm.

"I'm… here, you… know." She twisted her neck to look at him, her eyes clouded and weak, but still managing to be stern. "I can still talk for…myself, if not too well… Not… to be rude, but… who the hell are you?" Shadow blinked in surprise.

_No mistaking it… That is definitely Skaar's daughter._ Shadow sat down and leaned back in the chair slightly, putting his arms on his lap to rest them after carrying those weights. "I could ask you the same thing, but it seems apparent. He said your name was… Luna, isn't it? Well, I'm Shadow. Now we've met." Luna snorted, smirking a little.

"…Shadow? What kind of a stupid name is… that?" Shadow glared at her a little.

…_I can tell this won't exactly be a lasting friendship. I hate her already. _Amy came in suddenly, wringing out a large watery rag.

"Okay, I boiled it, so it should be good…" She flipped it out, spraying warm water everywhere. "Oops… sorry." Shadow of course had to be the closest, and was utterly drenched. Luna looked at Shadow and chuckled weakly, causing him to glare at her again. Amy scratched her head awkwardly, and started to fold the nearly hedgehog-sized strip of cloth into a square. Shadow raised an eyebrow.

_Where in the world did she find a strip of cloth that big? _Amy looked from the cloth to Luna's back, sizing it up with her mind.

"M'kay… that looks about the right size." She started to walk over, but then suddenly smacked Shadow over the head with the wet cloth. "Okay, all men get out! I gotta take the rest of her shirt off to fix up the bandages!" Shadow stared up at her with a look of mild annoyance.

"…You could ask me, you know." He slowly stood up, Skaar following. Almost as soon as they left, Amy slammed the door shut in their faces. Shadow glanced over to Skaar. "Well, that was a little overdone." Skaar looked at Shadow with a bored expression.

"Quite, but necessary in essence." Shadow rolled his eyes. It's not like he was going to peek at her or anything. What kind of a perverted freak did they take him for? Besides, he didn't like her attitude. Skaar suddenly grabbed Shadow by the scruff of his neck and pulled him off to the side. "Besides, we need to prepare." Shadow looked at Skaar with surprise.

"What about Luna? She didn't look very good…" Skaar continued to pull Shadow away into the kitchen.

"She is my daughter, so I am very concerned about her, but she managed to survive so far. The only way her health can go now is up. She's unnaturally resilient, and she's in good hands now. You, on the other hand, need quite a bit of work to get to what I would call "Healthy". You may not look it, but you are weak. I obviously knew you once, and you were nowhere as pitiful as you are now. For one so young, you have not aged well." Shadow glared at Skaar.

"…What was that?" Skaar groaned, and the next thing Shadow knew, he was partially embedded in the wall across from Skaar. "Ungh…" Suddenly, He felt Skaar's hand wrapping around his throat. "Gagk!"

"This is exactly what I mean." Shadow forced his eyes to open, and indeed saw Skaar standing there. "A child, with the proper Valley training, would have at least seen that coming. Your body has grown slow and fragile. You can't even see me move, can you? Well, We'll have to fix that first." Skaar raised his right hand, the other one still wrapped around Shadow's neck. Shadow knew that whatever this was it was going to hurt, but strangely, all he could think about was the dent in the wall he was in.

_Tails is going to be furious…_ Skaar made as if to poke Shadow's eyes out, but stopped his hand a few inches from Shadow's eyes. Suddenly, Tikal came in from Tail's work section of the lab, where Knuckles had laid her on the cot before. She must have just woken up, as she was still rubbing her eyes.

"Uhn… Where is everyone? I must have slept for at least-" She gasped as she saw Skaar and Shadow up against the wall. "Skaar, what are you doing?!" He turned his head and glanced at her.

"What's necessary." He turned back and suddenly, Shadow felt a stinging burst of pain go through his skull and the world went blurry. He could feel Skaar drop him as he covered his eyes.

"Ah! What the Hell?! Agh, GOD DAMMIT, that HURT! Ah!" Tikal rushed over to Shadow, helping him up to his feet again.

"What happened, Shadow?" Her voice sounded frantic and strained.

"I don't know…" Shadow slowly uncovered his eyes. He could barely see anything, everything was so blurry. He could barely make out Skaar, but everything past that was plain white. "What the hell did you do to me?" He didn't see anything move, but he heard Skaar's voice.

"I sent an electric shock through your eyes and over stimulated the nerves. Can you see this?" A thin blur slowly appeared across Shadow's vision right in front of Skaar's blurry silhouette.

"I… I think so…" Shadow squinted a little.

"How about this?" Skaar's form instantly became extremely defined again as he suddenly charged Shadow, one hand raised to strike with an open palm. Shadow's eyes widened, and he frantically lifted his arm to block the palm, barely making it in time due to the weights. As soon as Skaar stopped, his form became blurry and undefined again. Skaar chuckled darkly.

"…I guess you can. By over stimulating your nerves, your eyes now cannot see slow movement, but have a better detection level of faster movements. That attack was the very same that I used on you earlier in the kitchen." He chuckled in that mildly ominous tone again. "Now the training _really_ begins…"

* * *

_Skaar;_ Ha-ha! You got your face zapped!

_Shadow;_ What the hell?! _(Starts blindly bumping into things)_ I can't see!


	16. A slightly longer training session

Sorry about how long this took folks. I know I promised to update more in the summer, but I didn't expect my writing computer to crash the day before school got out. So I had to save up the money to by Word 2007, and install it on my internet computer. Either way, I should start updating at least weekly if not more from now. Consider this this week's installment!

_Shadow; _You bastard... _(Bumps into a wall)_

_Skaar;_Hehe.

_Tails;_Skaar does not own any of the places (Excluding the Valley of Chaos, but that's only mentioned), the characters (Except for Skaar(OC), Aila, Mor'gul, and Jair. Luna is property of my cousin Lunamoondragon from Youtube), or the plot. (Excluding the parts I made up myself, which is all of it. Maybe I should have just said I owned the plot...)

_

* * *

_

Recap;

"I sent an electric shock through your eyes and over stimulated the nerves. Can you see this?" A thin blur slowly appeared across Shadow's vision right in front of Skaar's blurry silhouette.

"I… I think so…" Shadow squinted a little.

"How about this?" Skaar's form instantly became extremely defined again as he suddenly charged Shadow, one hand raised to strike with an open palm. Shadow's eyes widened, and he frantically lifted his arm to block the palm, barely making it in time due to the weights. As soon as Skaar stopped, his form became blurry and undefined again. Skaar chuckled darkly.

"…I guess you can. By over stimulating your nerves, your eyes now cannot see slow movement, but have a better detection level of faster movements. That attack was the very same that I used on you earlier in the kitchen." He chuckled in that mildly ominous tone again. "Now the training _really_ begins…"

* * *

Shadow squinted painfully in an attempt to refocus his eyes. He was in a clearing alone with Skaar in the middle of a forest. He could hear Skaar yelling at him, and every once in a while he would just barely see a black shard of energy or a large tendril speeding at him in time, giving him just enough time to dodge. Well, at least the attacks he could _see._He was covered in cuts and bruises from attacks he had not seen in time. Every time he was hit, Skaar would punish him for such with an attack even more fierce that was commonly just as un-dodge-able. Even now, he could hear Skaar berating him for his most recent mistake.

"You damn fool! Do you expect to even dent my _confidence_ with pitiful reflexes like that, let alone hit me?!" Shadow saw several black shards of energy moving quickly through the bright blurriness at him, and frantically dropped flat on the ground as they whizzed by. If he could have chosen, he would have just stayed there, but he knew that there was going to be no rest until tonight.

It had been two days since Luna had awoken and Skaar had used that peculiar attack to increase Shadow's movement detection. In that short period of time, a lot of things had happened. First of all, Shadow had found out that his new-found "condition" was hell. It was true that his eyes were slowly adapting, but when he wasn't squinting like an old man at everything, he was running into whatever he was squinting at, causing him to swear on many occasions. But honestly, as annoying as that was, it was nothing compared to the idiotic events that transpired soon after the discovery.

First of all, Amy and Knuckles had found Luna walking around about six hours after they had bandaged her, and when they tried to grab her before she collapsed or something, she showed them just how much energy she had. Tails and Sonic were still prying Knuckles out of the wall by dinner. After Luna embedded him in the wall, Amy expressed her concerns about that horrid back wound of hers. Luna responded in kind by pushing the bandages down on her back and showing her that somehow, within six hours, the massively infected wound had not only healed, 

but turned into a scar. As Amy was gaping, Tikal entered and found Knuckles, and immediately rushed out to find Sonic and Tails. After everyone had calmed down however (Two hours later when he was finally out of the wall and Tikal was tending to his eye, which had split open yet again)Amy explained about Luna's strange regenerative cut to everyone else, Luna loudly protesting that this kind of thing is completely normal to her. When Skaar came in, they tried questioning him, but his response was only an irritated snort followed by "She's always had high metabolism". Around then, they realized what time it was, and were contemplating what to have for dinner when Luna came in eating a bowl of something, saying that while they were all "whining and nattering away" to quote exactly, she had made something. They should have known when Skaar closed his eyes and started to massage the ridge of his nose after she said that what they were in for.

The next interesting turn of events was all circled around one thing; Luna cannot cook to save her life. There were three foods on the table. The first was a fish, which was mildly raw; the next one was something described to Shadow as resembling porridge in appearance, and the last thing was some sort of gelatinous substance they all assumed was the dessert. Sonic got severe food poisoning from the fish, and Shadow felt himself throw up a little in his mouth every time he took a bite of the porridge like substance (He wisely steered clear of the fish). The gelatinous substance went untouched. So Sonic was still retching into the toilet in the morning, and Shadow awoke to a mild cramp in his stomach. When Shadow had worked it out and eaten a much more stable breakfast of toast and hash browns kindly prepared by Cream's mother Vanilla (who had come by to let Cream play with Tails for a while), Skaar had immediately approached him and drug him off to this very clearing, where Skaar had tried to kill him for more than fifteen hours, only stopping to eat lunch and drink. Again, all Skaar did while they ate was stare at Shadow. Skaar must have thought that Shadow couldn't tell with his blindness, but he could feel that almost drilling gaze right between his eyes. When they went back to the lab, Shadow and Sonic exchanged a little rivalry banter about their various wounds before they both collapsed on opposite sides of a small couch in Tail's "Living Room". So far, today had been the same, if not slightly more painful. Vanilla had even come by again to cook breakfast for them, as a thank you for letting Cream come by so short notice the day before. Fortunately, he could tell that it was getting dark out from the dimness of the atmosphere. Pretty soon, Skaar would probably start to head back. Hopefully.

"Well, it's starting to get too dark. We should most likely return before Luna kills someone." Shadow almost sagged with relief when he heard Skaar's voice. Another thing that should be mentioned (on review of Skaar's comment about Luna killing someone) is the fact that Knuckles and Sonic had taken it upon themselves to ask Luna to help them a little with their fighting. Luna had grudgingly mentioned that she wasn't very good without weapons, saying that fist fighting was Skaar's area, but had agreed to help "in her spare time". Shadow had snorted at this. _How occupied could she possibly be? She almost never comes out of the spare room she had taken control of. _As it turns out, she is almost as deranged of a trainer as Skaar, if not worse because of her cynical and yet somehow slightly upbeat training policy. "Never lose your confidence, because I'm going to try to beat it out of you".



Shadow looked over at what he assumed to be Skaar's silhouette, though with his luck it was only a shadow. "Skaar, what are you hiding about me?" The silhouette continued moving, proving that it was not just some trick of the light.

"Nothing you need to know right now. You may wonder what I'm doing here, why I seem to have chosen you specifically to help prepare for the war soon to come, but I choose not to reveal anything yet. You are different from your friends, Shadow. In more ways than you know. If you haven't figured out any of the reasons why, however, then I can't tell you yet…" Shadow glared.

"Why? I know that you watch me when you think I'm not paying attention. What exactly am I?" Skaar's form stopped as if stiffening a little, but continued to move forward immediately after.

"…I cannot tell you…to protect you." Shadow almost slipped.

"What?"

Skaar's form stopped again, not moving this time. His voice was strained and remorseful.

"Mor'gul is not just strong. He's a genius like you've never heard of. They say he can even hear you think, which is closer to the truth than is comfortable. If you know who you are, he'll know too. Every step he takes somehow furthers his goals, which are never what you think they are. He once was one of my most trusted friends, topped only by your mother Aila and my captain of the guard, Jair. For almost ten thousand years while the powers of the Valley of Chaos preserved us, He slowly gained my trust while somehow undermining the entire city. I don't know how he could have mastered it so well, but one day when I was gone searching for some escaped convicts with part of the guard, he, with the help of the humans, razed the entire outer ring of buildings in the city, forcing the frightened inhabitants into the center plaza. Once he had "herded" the people into the plaza, the humans blocked off all of the exits…" Skaar's head moved in what Shadow assumed was a remorseful bow. "…Mor'gul killed each and every one of the remaining inhabitants personally, a number almost reaching a thousand." Shadow looked down at the ground.

…_That's why the buildings were intact closer in… he used them as walls to lock them in so he could kill them. But… how could even he kill so many? If anything, wouldn't he tire?_Skaar looked back up again, his voice sounding ever so slightly closer to its normal deep, scratchy tone.

" That's not all. This thousand was only a small portion of the people I was charged to protect. With the human's assistance, he murdered the _entire city's population,_ a number reaching almost two hundred thousand." Shadow was taken aback, a massive wave of shock coursing though him.

_Two hundred thousand?! But… how could…_Shadow tried to regain his nerve. "…Where are all of the bodies? …I only found the ones in the center… Skaar began to slowly walk again, in much less of a hurry than he had been.



" I buried them all… it took me and the small surviving populace two years, even with my power. You didn't know it was that many, did you? Do you still think my justifications of putting those responsible to death are so horrible? This wasn't just some massacre, you fool. It was _genocide_. They obliterated an entire _way of life._There are few left now who follow the old customs… That "Knuckles" fellow seems to, and Tikal is still loyal to the Old Gods, and then there's me and Luna, not to mention Mor'gul himself. That's _five_ people, Shadow. _Five_ that still follow the customs and traditions of a culture that once spread across all of the lands on this planet. If you still find my thoughts unjustified, then you are not the man I thought you were." Shadow gaped.

"H-how many again…?" Skaar growled a little under his breath.

"I don't like repeating myself. You know exactly how many." Shadow followed slowly in a state of utter disbelief.

_Tikal… She saw what the city had really looked like… I really do feel guilty now. I was in too much of a hurry to get into his thoughts to see the consequences it might carry for her. She is too sensitive of a person to be exposed to such horrible violence… I guess that explains why I haven't seen her for a while. She hasn't come out of her room since helping Knuckles two days ago with his eye after that wall incident… I should apologize. _Shadow smirked just a little after that. _At least before her little worshipper "Knux" tries to tear my head off._Suddenly, he remembered something Skaar had said, turning back to Skaar abruptly. "You said that my mother was a friend of yours, didn't you?" Skaar sighed.

"Yes. She was beautiful. Everyone I knew adored her, your father most of all…" Shadow looked down awkwardly, even though he could not even see the ground.

"…Skaar, you knew my father as well?" Skaar barked a remorseful laugh.

"Better than anyone but Aila... Why?"

"…What kind of a man was he?" Skaar groaned.

"I should have known that you were going to ask something like that… I guess I can tell you that much. He was a very moral man, not drawn to the Vices like drinking and gambling. He also was a very hard worker, though he had a bit of a temper like me… but what should concern you the most is that he loved you and your mother very much, and would die to protect either of you…" Shadow looked back at Skaar, surprised.

"… you actually finally told me something." Skaar tilted his head in a way that made him seem to be looking back.

"And you finally stopped being so constantly angry. One of your youth just doesn't fit the "tortured martyr" look as well as one of my own disposition does. You reminded me of him today while we fought. He never complained either." With that, Skaar walked off, leaving Shadow stunned.

* * *

Well... there it is, I guess. I liked chapter 15 better. The plot was still just as fun for me, but the wording was a little iffy.

_Shadow;_ Well, at least you're teaching me about my past through this... _(Swears as he stubs a toe) _But was this really necessary?

_Skaar;_ Yep! ;3


	17. The Thin boundaries of the mind

Haha! Weekly! Toldja!

_Shadow;_ Wow. The idiot actually did it. Well, he only owns the non-canon characters (Luna excluded; Lunamoondragon's) and the plot, of course.

_Skaar;_ Well... This chapter may be kind of confusing, because Skaar mentions things I haven't told you guys yet. Don't worry, I made it confusing deliberately.

__

Recap;

"… you actually finally told me something." Skaar tilted his head in a way that made him seem to be looking back.

* * *

"And you finally stopped being so constantly angry. One of your youth just doesn't fit the "tortured martyr" look as well as one of my own disposition does. You reminded me of him today while we fought. He never complained either." With that, Skaar walked off, leaving Shadow stunned.

Skaar slowly walked the halls of the Sonic team base in Central City, examining the disturbingly ugly wallpaper. It was another sleepless night for him… That day, Shadow and himself had returned after training to find that in their absence, the team had decided to move on to Sonic Team for the room. They wouldn't have even figured out where they had gone if Tails hadn't still been there, working on some sort of machine resembling an extreme gear. So that is why now, on this sleepless night, Skaar wandered the halls of the base of the greatest Anti-terrorist organization known to this world. How did he ever even get here? If history had progressed any other way, he would have still been in the Valley, kindly leading his people and helping their problems disappear. He rubbed his left eye with his palm sleepily, but he knew that sleep would only bring the nightmares that plagued his mind, even during the day when the time for experiencing them was long past.

_Even now… I can still hear the insane screeches of that blasted… thing! Telling me to destroy them, to take their lives in their sleep! _Skaar furiously whirled around, smashing a black tendril the size of a sapling into the table behind him furiously, the force tearing the table in two and sending nearby chairs scattering. _When will this torment end!_ Skaar stared at his hand curiously, clenching his fist, before looking at the table itself. Its legs were still intact, but it was splintered right down the center, everything that was sitting on it now piled up on the ground in the center where the two halves had landed, making a V shape. He sighed quietly. _One more mess to clean up… It can wait till the morning._

Skaar continued to wander the building, examining the architecture and memorizing the layout. Finally he realized that he had gone full circle and returned to the living quarters, where he had began in the first place from his own room. He walked up the hallway slowly, his dark gray, rather plain shoes making quiet squeaks across the recently waxed floor. He had gotten those from the ever-helpful Vanilla, who had decided to buy him a pair without his knowledge upon noticing that all he had was a pair of sandals in the customary fashion of his people. They were a little too "modern" for him, but were very comfortable and allowed for good friction.

_She almost reminds me of Tikal… Always helping, and always there at just the right moment to do so. _He made his way to his room, glancing at the doorways as he made his way down the hall.

_Three doors down on the right._ He stopped at the third door, recognizing it as his room. With a mildly annoyed sigh, he pushed open the door.

_I have to sleep eventually…_ As he pushed the door open, he realized that he had made a mistake. In his exhaustion, he must have gone one door too far or not far enough, because although the door was ajar as he had left his own, the room was distinctly different. Light poured in from the 

window across from him, illuminating the room just enough for him to dimly make out that this room was a different shape than his. He could see a lump in the bed as well. Curiously, Skaar made his way over to the sleeping figure.

Right as he got to the figure, he stepped on something slippery and fell face first into the lump. He frantically stood upright, regaining his composure before the form could shift. It didn't.

_Wait… the floor is slippery, and this body is near the edge… could it be a bleeding corpse?_ Skaar slowly reached for the blanket covering the figure, pulling it away. Much to his relief, there was no corpse or other such thing, but some pillows arranged to look vaguely like a person. He looked at the floor, crouching down to see what he had stepped in if it wasn't blood.

_Someone must be missing their dinner… seeing as I just stepped in the remains of it._ Skaar stood up, taking a look around the room hesitantly. _So where is the inhabitant?_ As he turned, he noticed a very dim light coming from under the doorway to the private bathroom. He made his way to the door, being careful not to step on anything else, lest it be more throw up. At the door, he contemplated knocking, but eventually just casually opened the door, like he would any other.

Tikal was sitting on the bathroom floor, her legs pulled up to her chest fearfully as she stared at a lone candle sitting on the rim of the bathtub. She had very pronounced bags under her eyes, which were visibly strained and tired, even in the dim lighting. Not to mention bloodshot. Her humanlike quills were erratic, all messy and scattered. She looked like she needed a bath, if anything to get the muck out of those quills. She was wearing a full body length nightgown, which was stretched as far is it could go over her knees, nearly covering her toes. At the sound of the door creaking open, she quickly recoiled, her eyes widening as she saw Skaar. Or at least his silhouette, apparently.

"W-who's there…?" Skaar stepped up to her, crouching down so that his head was level with hers in the small circle of light cast by the candle.

"…It seems I'm not the only one who hasn't been sleeping for a few days…" Skaar sat down, leaning against the cabinet under the sink as Tikal nervously looked back at the candle. "What is this, meditation?" Tikal half nodded her head, not bringing it back up again. "Why?" She turned to him, her eyes full of fear.

"…To keep the visions away…" She shivered, burying her head in her knees. "Every time I close my eyes… Th-they just won't stop!" Her whole body quaked as she tried to hold back the tears begging to be released. Skaar put his hand on her shoulder in a halfhearted attempt to comfort the woman who had been his friend all those years ago. "All I see… All I see is blood!" She began to sob quietly, her shoulders shaking. "It n-never… never ends…" She began to stop quivering and breath slowly, signifying that she had fallen asleep. Skaar sighed and slowly sat up, adjusting his posture against the sink cabinet.

_She was always too sensitive to life… something like this must have destroyed her._ He watched her sitting there, her knuckles white from gripping her knees even in sleep. He could feel his own eyes drooping, but he knew what awaited him if he fell asleep. He must not. Besides, there was 

far too much to think about. How could he possibly stop Mor'gul, when he himself had fallen to him like a leaf in the wind? There seemed to be no way. _But we will endure. No matter what, a way will present itself to us…_ He could feel his eyes closing… drifting lower… darkening…

He forced himself to snap awake. _No! I cannot fall asleep!_ Suddenly, he heard a scratching noise, coming from somewhere nearby. It was like a rat, skittering across the wooden floors in the hallway. _There aren't any rats here…_ Skaar slowly stood up, trying not to wake Tikal. As he made his way out into the hallway, the skittering continued. Skaar was not one to be afraid of the dark, but to anyone else, this probably would have been rather spooky with the way that the moon shined in at just the right angle to make it that you could only see the contents of the immediate lit area. Everything else was shrouded in darkness.

Something clattered in the room across from him. _If I was in Tikal's room, that's Luna's…_ He quickly approached the door, and instead of the customary method of knocking then opening, blew the door off of its hinges. He entered and saw Luna standing across from him, her face hidden by the shadows. "Luna?" An ominous and slightly playful chuckle echoed around the room.

_She can't hear you…_ _She's been… _Suddenly, Skaar realized that there was a silver-furred, clawed hand on her shoulder. The hand suddenly unclenched its grip, Skaar watching in horror and surprise as Luna started to fall lifelessly without its support. _Oh, what is that word? _Another chuckle echoed ominously through the room. _Ah, yes… She has been… How do you say…? Ah. Murdered. _A third and much deeper chuckle reverberated in Skaar's ears as a silver and white wolf stepped out of the shadows, covering his mouth to quiet his laughter as Skaar dove to catch Luna's body.

"Luna, please…" He lifted her head, causing it to roll in its neck joint and stare at him. Her eyes were wide open, her now blue lips parted ever so slightly as if aroused, but her skin was slowly turning pale. He looked down at her body and realized that her fur was parted and the skin underneath was raw right around her throat. _The skittering noise… that BASTARD strangled her! _Skaar began to feel his fury building, chilling him to the bone with emotionless hatred, but lighting his skin aflame in horrible revenge and adrenaline. He whirled around, finding the wolf still standing there and laughing at his pain. "MOR'GUL!" The wolf lowered his hand, cunningly smiling.

"Yyyeeesss?" Skaar snarled and charged at his eternal foe, punching at him with his right hand. Before the punch landed, Mor'gul's sword was in the way, his punch ricocheting off of the flat side. Mor'gul smiled, one hand releasing the hilt and grabbing Skaar's wrist. "You have quite a conundrum here, don't you?" His already murderous grip tightened even more on Skaar's wrist, tilting it back towards the arm itself with a sickening crack. Skaar roared in pain as Mor'gul continued to apply pressure to his already shattered wrist, simultaneously swinging around behind Skaar. "You see, my old _friend_… you cannot possibly beat me with that little axe you summon up all the time. Mordreth can cut through it like warm butter." Mor'gul gestured with his sword, identifying it as what he called "Mordreth". "No, we both know that Luna was the one gifted with weaponry anyway." He leaned in, chuckling yet again. "Well, she _was._" Skaar snarled, unable to move because of the painful position his arm was in. "Yes… you _might _be able to actually pose a threat to me if you could use that little martial art style you've been working on _all these years...c_But again, we have this little issue about you and Mordreth again, don't we? He could tear right _through_ you. A pity you can't just block with your arms, isn't it?" He snorted at the irony.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Skaar could feel Mor'gul's breath on his back. "What could possibly drive you to hate me so much?" Mor'gul gave one final chuckle.

"Well…" Skaar felt a hand grip his throat, squeezing as it slowly turned him around and lifted him into the air. Skaar gurgled, barely keeping his neck from being snapped. As he looked down, however, he froze. Before him stood a perfect reflection of himself, down to those shoes he was wearing. The only difference that Skaar could see was its eyes. They were the same, heartless blue of Mor'gul's, with that terrifying effect it seemed to have on people. "I _am _you."

Skaar awoke, quickly standing upright. He regretted this soon after, seeing as he smashed his head on the sink above him. As he groaned and fell back down, he realized that he was on the floor of Tikal's bathroom. Tikal was still asleep next to him, but her grip had loosened and she had sunk to the floor a long time ago. Skaar sighed and palmed his face. _When are these nightmares going to end…? That sword of his will drive me mad at this rate… _Suddenly, he stared up curiously. _Wait… not all of this dream was induced by Mor'gul. He never would have said __**that**__. My subconscious… I may have just found a way to kill him._

Well, there you go. See you all next week.

* * *


	18. A formal greeting

_Skaar;_ Well... nothing to say here other than my summer sucked... That, and this document will not frikkin' FORMAT RIGHT!

* * *

_Recap;_

Skaar sighed and palmed his face. _When are these nightmares going to end…? That sword of his will drive me mad at this rate… _Suddenly, he stared up curiously. _Wait… not all of this dream was induced by Mor'gul. He never would have said __**that**__. My subconscious… I may have just found a way to kill him. _

* * *

Shadow glared angrily at Luna. She was wearing a dark blue shirt with a crescent moon on the chest and black pants that almost blended into her fur color. Her long black hair-like quills hung just past her waist level, and emphasized her movements as she walked over and stood above him, leaning on a curved three foot tall dark yellow sword that looked far too wide for someone of her size to use effectively. She smirked, her blue eyes seeming to mock him. "Well, look who just got beat by a girl. START OVER!" She stepped back, casually lifting the sword up and letting it rest on her shoulder. Shadow stood up, clutching a shallow wound on his shoulder. Skaar had left a day ago, dumping Shadow off in Luna's care. Well, "care" would obviously be the wrong word, as it is fairly common knowledge that Shadow can take care of himself. What should be said is that she was now in charge of his training… and it was horrible. If he thought Skaar was violent, he didn't know his daughter. Not only was she just as strong and fast as Skaar, but she mocked him when he failed and seemed to take immense pleasure in beating him, Sonic and Knuckles. She really did try to beat their confidence out of them… and it worked pretty well.

Shadow had awoke that morning to find that his vision was no longer impaired, and amazingly, could still see faster movements as Skaar had predicted. Soon after awaking, he went out to meet Skaar, who was always mysteriously outside of his room just s he awoke, to find him not there. He had glanced up and down the halls, but there was no sign of the hedgehog. When he wandered into the "lobby" of the Sonicteam building, he came across Luna, Sonic and Knuckles on their way to the practice room she had set up. He mentioned Skaar, and Luna revealed rather offhandedly that Skaar had left at two AM that morning, telling Luna to "pick up where he was leaving off." So, that was how he was stuck in this large empty room with Knuckles, Sonic, and Luna. Like Shadow, Knuckles and Sonic were panting. Sonic was leaning on his knees to catch his breath, and raised his head to stare at Luna. "Hah… Why do you… hah… get a weapon, anyway?" He coughed and lowered his head again, taking in a gulp of air. He had recently suffered a rather nasty kick to the "lower area". Luna looked at him with a rather bored "I-don't-care-about-your-opinions" look on her face.

"Psh. You wanna learn how to fight against an unarmed opponent, see dad. My training is much more realistic." She shifted the sword, letting it fall off of her shoulder on its own accord and stab into the floor. She developed an almost conniving smirk on her face. "But if it's the disadvantage you have against an armed enemy that bugs you, feel free to attack me all at once!" She lifted the large sword into the air, holding it out expectantly. No one moved. She sighed, stabbing the sword into the ground and turning her back to them. "Pff. Cowards." Shadow looked at her back, thinking back on Skaar's lessons. "_Damn it! Shadow, there is no such thing as proper conduct in a true fight. Mor'gul will not take pity on you! Use any and all weaknesses you can find on his body!"_ Shadow looked at his arm. The wound was small. It had already stopped bleeding. His other arm was doing better as well, the deep wounds from the Valley beginning to scar and grow more fur. _Without my power rings, my power is speeding my recovery… but at what cost? _He looked at her turned back again. He gathered all the energy he could, and abruptly sprinted forward, going from 0 miles per hour to eighty instantly with a burst of power diverted to his jet shoes. Sonic and Knuckles saw him begin to burst forward, and quickly jolted forward behind him, using every inch of their leg muscles simultaneously. Shadow flew through the air at high speed, reaching Luna almost instantly after his burst with one arm raised for the punch.

Suddenly, her almost fox-like ears twitched. He had seen them do that before. _Damn it, she was luring us in!_ Luna's body blurred as her hand flew to her hilt behind her, gripping the ball of it at the base. As her body twisted sideways, he barely noticed a smirk on her face as she kicked the tip of her sword out of the ground. The kick sent the flat of the blade upwards, striking Shadow in the back as she ducked and let him fly overhead. The extra force from the strike to the back sent him into the wall behind her, making a spider web crack all around Shadow's contact point on the wall as drywall dust scattered through the air. As he staggered backwards painfully, coughing from the dust, he twisted as he collapsed, facing Luna again. Sonic was flat on his back ten feet away from her, and Knuckles, leading the rear of the charge of course, had one of those horribly dangerous arms raised for one of his many trademark punches. As he jabbed forward, his arm blurring from the speed, Luna smirked knowingly. Right before the punch landed, the sword she had been so casually leaning on a few minutes before twisted above her head as she twirled around him with an unexpected feminine grace, her quills spinning around her like a ribbon in a ballet. Her twirl left her behind Knuckles, the sword already swinging downwards. It struck him right across the spine, his eyes wavering as he collapsed under the force. Luna chuckled, shouldering the sword again and surveying her work. Sonic was painfully attempting to sit up, and Knuckles was showing no signs of moving even though it was now apparent that she had hit him with the back of the sword instead of the sharp front. "Men. So predictable!" Shadow growled.

_I despise her, but… her skill… Is she better than Skaar? It's almost as if… she's much more graceful than him, at least. Her balance is just unshakeable… _Shadow staggered up, coughing a few more times. His whole body ached. _Well, flying into a wall will do that to you... I've certainly experienced that a lot recently._ Sonic was already upright, recovering faster than Shadow. Knuckles, on the other hand, was just starting to groan a little. While Knuckles tried to pick himself up after being knocked out so violently, Shadow and Sonic prepared for another attack. _Damn it, these weights make hitting her impossible, but one of us is going to!_ Sonic and Shadow exchanged knowing glances, as Luna smirked and readied her weapon again. As she looked between the two of them, Sonic managed to exchange the same glance with Knuckles without her noticing. The three had fought side by side many times before, and each one knew the other two like his hand. The three of them faced Luna, Knuckles still feigning near unconsciousness on the ground behind her. Luna looked between Sonic and Shadow, that self-assured smirk never leaving her face.

"…Well?" Shadow acted first, charging at her with one fist raised. She casually caught his hand at the wrist, not even bothering to move her sword. "When are you going to figure out that-" Shadow suddenly opened his fist as forcefully as he could, managing to expel the handful of drywall dust he had directly into her face. She threw him back in surprise, coughing and sneezing fitfully as it was inhaled. Shadow fell on his back, but quickly recovered. While Shadow was recovering, Sonic extended a hand as the air began to stir in the room.

"Sonic wind!" A tornado of energy and wind circled around Luna, kicking up more drywall dust and slicing at her legs, further disorienting her. She managed to lock eyes with Shadow, her eyes slightly bloodshot from all of the dust in the air. Shadow saw the surprise in her face, and decided it was time.

"Knuckles, now!" Luna's eyes widened, (which must have hurt a lot…) and she twisted around to look behind her. In all the confusion, Knuckles had slipped away. All that was left of him was a small hole. The floor under Luna's feet cracked, the marble tiles breaking like plates as Knuckles' hand reached out of the ground and grasped her ankle. With a small gasp of surprise, she was pulled down to her knees as Knuckles burst out of the ground. As he rose past her, he delivered a startlingly strong uppercut to the jaw, her head jerking back as a trail of blood flew through the air. The force of her moving down and him moving up must have played a big part in it, because Luna flipped back and landed flat on her back. Knuckles landed in front of Sonic and Shadow, the three making a triangle. Luna's head lifted slowly, a small trickle of blood going down her chin as she stared at them with amusement.

"Well, well, well… Wasn't that smart of you!" Shadow stopped, looking at her confusedly. Suddenly, she was up again, sword spinning and feet flowing across the ground. In a single twisting dance of steel and quills, Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow were all flat on their backs. None of them even knew where they had been struck until the pain arrived. Luna stood over them, her face unusually serious. Finally, she turned to Shadow, wiping the trail of blood off of her face as she kneeled over him and stabbed her sword into the floor only inches to the right of his head. She growled at him, her eyes stern and angry. "Don't… hesitate!" she leaned in closer, her face only half a foot away from his. "Hesitate, and you die." She stood up, dusting her hands off and shaking drywall dust out of her quills, the sword remaining where it was. "You're all pitiful! I don't even know what my father sees in you!" She snorted in a distinctly un-feminine fashion, and stalked out of the room. Shadow slowly moved his head, making sure not to chop off any of his quills on the deadly sharp blade next to him. Once his head was clear, he stood up and walked into the center of the room where Knuckles and Sonic were standing.

"Does she always have those mood swings?" Sonic shrugged.

"Well, only when we make a big mistake or she's trying to prove a point…" Knuckles groaned, twisting his neck in its socket as loud cracks echoed through the room.

"She seems a little emotionally unstable to me… It probably has to do with the Valley. Skaar mentioned to me a few days ago that his wife was killed there... Must be hard on her." Shadow groaned himself, cracking a very mildly dislocated shoulder back into its socket.

"That's right… I was there when she woke up, and that was when Skaar told her. That was only a few days ago… I wonder if she even knows that Mor'gul is the one who killed everyone yet. I guess this must be hard, keeping such a light demeanor." Sonic sighed, stretching his legs.

"Yeah… she sure is good at keeping a straight face though. Either that or it isn't actually a big deal to her. Maybe her and her mom didn't like each other or sumthin'." He paused to stretch his arms, cracking his fingers. "Well, I'm gonna go take a quick run. I've got a cramp…" Knuckles nodded, and the two left the room at once. Shadow followed, but stopped to take one last look at the sword, still plunged into the floor at least two feet in.

_She definitely knows what she's doing… But I still have to wonder, why is Skaar missing…? Why is he even helping us prepare a defense against Mor'gul if he hates humans so much anyway? He's so racist towards them, but at the same time tries to separate the good from the bad in his head... he's so confusing. And then there's Luna… I don't know anything about her, her motives, her personality, anything. _Shadow glared at the sword. _Though I do know that she has __way__ too much attitude... Mor'gul may have to beat me to killing her!_ He stared down at his arms suddenly. _Huh… I was almost moving as fast as I would normally today… Strange. I must be getting stronger. I guess Skaar was right… That was fast. About a week. I wonder when he'll take the weights off… _Shadow shrugged. _It doesn't matter._ He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. When he did, he almost ran straight into a black, towering figure. _Skaar?!_ He looked up quickly, to find that this figure was about two feet taller than Skaar and had a more humanoid appearance. _Oh… A GUN agent._ Shadow pulled out his GUN pass, holding it up for confirmation. "Shadow the hedgehog, reporting. What is it?" The soldier took the pass, quickly glancing at it and returning it. Protocol called for ID confirmation at delivery of a message, but how many people looked like Shadow? The gun soldier did a quick salute, his body stiffening.

"Sir, the President of the United States has called a meeting of the Joint Chiefs and Pentagon officials. As a leading member of GUN and resident of Sonicteam, he has requested your presence for council. He has also requested the presence of Team Sonic and the other two members of Team Dark. Omega has been located and is being brought in, and Rouge will meet you there. The meeting will begin as soon as you arrive." The soldier's body remained stiff. He wasn't about to slack off in front of a ranking officer, at least. Shadow admired his respect of protocol.

"At ease, private. Tell them that we will be right on the way." The Soldier saluted again, and walked away. Shadow managed to find Sonic before he had his run, changing his shoes. He quickly brought Tails and Knuckles together, Team Sonic completed. They were fairly close to the particular GUN building that Shadow knew such meetings were held in, so they walked. When they got there, Shadow didn't even bother flashing his badge and just walked in. People would definitely recognize Shadow and Team Sonic here, with their reputation as an Anti-terrorist organization. They walked right through the security checkpoints, no one ignorant enough to think to stop them. Here, they were heroes. When they entered the room however, Shadow noticed that something was wrong. Although Omega was standing robotically still in the corner of the room, his LED Light eyes staring blankly forward, Rouge was nowhere to be found. All of the humans in the room were just sitting there, staring blankly at their hands. Shadow approached the president, quickly saluting before sitting down. "What's going on here? Where's Rouge?"

The president looked up quickly, as if noticing him for the first time. "Oh, Rouge has been assigned to a mission last minute… but you should have a look at this. We began to talk about attempting diplomacy, and suddenly… He was here. He stepped out of the shadows as if he had been there the whole time. All he did was smile, look at us and pull out this with a flourish… he just placed it on the table, and chuckled, saying "I hope to see you soon." Then he just jumped out of a window… His eyes… They really are horrifying." The president finally gestured to what he was talking about, a small card on the table. Shadow picked it up. It had writing on it, in a flourishing handwriting. It even had a rather nice design on it, depicting a rather breathtaking landscape. It was hand-drawn, as well. It looked like a wedding invitation or a party flyer. On it, it said;

_You are cordially invited to Mission Island for a black-tie dinner party. Fine food and drink will be supplied. After dinner, the building will be open for exploration, and there will be brandy and Cuban cigars in the den for those who wish it. As the host, feel free to ask me for anything you require. We will meet at a time of your choosing (excluding dinner) for the proper negotiations. _

_ Respectfully, _

_ Mor'gul_

* * *

_Skaar; _Meh.


	19. Friend or foe?

_Skaar;_ My way of apologizing for updating so badly. only two days, AND it's about two words longer!

_Skaar(OC);_ Yes, those two words will make all the difference.

_Skaar;_ Shut up. And by the way, only Skaar(OC), Mor'gul, Jair, The plot, and The Valley of Chaos are mine. everything else is either Luna moondragon's (Luna) or Sega's. (Everything else)

* * *

__

Recap;

_You are cordially invited to Mission Island for a black-tie dinner party. Fine food and drink will be supplied. After dinner, the building will be open for exploration, and there will be brandy and Cuban cigars in the den for those who wish it. As the host, feel free to ask me for anything you require. We will meet at a time of your choosing (excluding dinner) for the proper negotiations. _

_Respectfully,_

_Mor'gul_

* * *

Shadow stared at the card in disbelief. _...Is… he actually this blatant?_ He looked from the card to the president quickly, analyzing the situation. Sonic saw his look, and walked over with Tails and Knuckles. Tails was the first to speak.

"What's wrong, Shadow?"He wordlessly passed the card to the three behind him, leaning forward on the table they were sitting on, looking at the President across from him.

"What do you plan on doing? The president leaned back in his seat, closing his hands in his lap.

"…We plan on accepting." Shadow opened his mouth in protest, but thought better of it. Despite what Skaar thought, the president was a good and intelligent man. As Shadow thought on it more, he realized that Mor'gul would have no reason to invite them to the island for a trap, because he could have killed them all in the meeting room when he appeared there if that was what he wanted… Apparently, Mor'gul was actually attempting a wartime meeting. Suddenly going to this meeting seemed like a _very_ good idea. The president saw Shadow's face and interpreted that he had reached the same conclusion that the president was going to go with, and half nodded. "We will of course expect Team Sonic and the present members of Team Dark to… accompany us. It will be a very good chance for Reconnaissance. Satellite images have shown that he seems to be constructing a building, but we obviously cannot see inside of it." Shadow nodded in agreement, the members of Team Sonic taking seats on either side of him.

"Well, Sonic is our leader, so I think that we should consult him on this particularly." Shadow looked at Sonic, who sat directly to his left, as Sonic leaned forward in his chair.

"Well, the invitation doesn't _technically_ say that we aren't invited. I don't think we'll have a problem getting in… Tails, do you think you can do a structural scan of the building?" Tails nodded.

"If I get inside, I can probably get a good read from a pulse-sonar scanner…" He saw the looks on the faces around the table, and began to deliberate. "It's a small machine I can probably smuggle in. It sends out a vibrant wave of near undetectable sound from small wireless microphone/receptors that I can place around the building, the sound waves returning to the receptors and interpreting into distances. Basically, when the receptors pick up the noise they made earlier, they send a room's blueprint to my computer. It's basically mechanical echolocation, so it's fairly accurate, and I can piece the rooms together to make the building. It's the best way to scan a building if you don't want to get caught doing it." The humans and anthropamorphs around the table nodded, looking back to Sonic. Sonic smirked at his adopted little brother before turning back to the group.

"If there are problems, Knux can dig a way in for us. You guys just go on ahead. Suddenly, Omega's head turned in his neck socket, his emotionless eyes resting on the four anthropamorphs.

"ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT MISSION ISLAND IS HEAVILY GUARDED BY CREATURES AND DEMONS OF VAYING SHAPE AND SIZE, THE LARGEST BEING A WOLVERINE. MEASUREMENT; 10 FEET, 5 INCHES. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED VIOLENTLY?" Omega's loud, scratchy mechanical voice itched at Shadow's ears. Omega was a decent robot, but that voice was like agony sometimes. He could only imagine what it sounded like to Cream, Vanilla or Rouge. Sonic waved his hand, as if pushing the idea off to the side.

"Wow, nice job Omega! But no, I don't think we should just run in there. The card said that we were allowed to explore after eating, so we might just be able to wander off after that." With Sonic's recent idiotic behavior around Amy, Shadow had started to forget that Sonic was the leader for a reason. It was nice to see that he still had common sense, despite the recent circumstances. Knuckles looked down at the table they all sat at, the still silent humans gathered around it.

"What I want to know is… How did he know that this was the right building…?" Knuckles' statement only deepened the silence. After a few minutes, Tails stood up.

"Well… there isn't a date on this card, so we have to assume that he meant today." Shadow followed his lead, standing up and nodding.

"Hm… I think we all have some preparation to do." Sonic and Knuckles stood up simultaneously, pushing their chairs back and following Shadow and Tails out.

* * *

Shadow stared blankly at his reflection in the water below him. They had already told Luna that they were going to be gone, but didn't specify where because they had decided that if she went, this situation would _definitely_ degrade to violence. No real question about it… She had way too much reason to want to kill Mor'gul on sight. As angry as Shadow could be about what had happened in the Valley, which if Skaar was to be believed, was his home once, he could never be _truly_ angry because… well, he didn't remember anyone or anything there. Killing of innocents was always a horrible thing, but the inhabitants of Sonicteam knew what war was about. Mor'gul would probably be killed one way or another, but this was not the time to do something stupid… Since no one else was ever at the Sonicteam "HQ" nowadays, there was no one else to tell, so they were all set. The only problem was how to smuggle weapons into the "party"… Sonic of course was a weapon all by himself, as were Knuckles and Omega, and Tails had a few tricks up his sleeves, but Shadow wanted to be prepared for _anything_. He may be as strong and as fast as Sonic, but that didn't mean that he couldn't bring something extra to the table just in case. Eventually, Shadow just stuffed his usual Glock pistol into an over-the-shoulder pack with a few clips. Now, he had the pack thrown over his shoulder as he watched that water flow by. They were on a boat, leading to Mission Island. The President still wasn't quite sure if this was a trap or not, so they were taking boat instead of a plane since planes are much easier to crash from the ground.

Sonic stood at his side leaning on the boat's rail, watching the water slide by as well. Like Shadow, he obviously was not in any sort of clothing other than his usual. The humans had their customs, but the male Sonicteam members weren't ones for that sort of thing. Sonic raised his head from the water, still leaning on the railing as he watched the slowly darkening horizon. "Shad, what do you think we should do here? There are a lot of holes in this in my opinion… I still don't know what's going on half of the time." Shadow nodded.

"Neither do I… and don't call me Shad." Sonic smirked, half chuckling.

"What, and spoil the fun? Naw, I'm good." Shadow looked at Sonic and raised an eyebrow. Sonic just chuckled again and looked back out at the sea. "But seriously Shadow… we're in uncharted territory here. We don't know anything about this Mor'gul guy other than that he's a wolf, and can chaos control or _something_. That and he's got some sort of aura of fear or somethin' according to Skaar… We don't even know if we can trust _him_, for that matter! All we really know is that Skaar destroyed Mission island, and Mor'gul _might_ have done something to the Valley. Who do we trust here?" Shadow's gaze did not avert from the water below, but he leaned on the railing as well.

"I don't know… Skaar seems to be on our side, but who knows for sure? The possibilities are endless here… what if by some insane twist of fate, Mor'gul is the one we should be trusting here…? What if this is all a hoax by Skaar to shift the blame to make room for his agendas…? I just don't know. There are too many possibilities. We'll just have to wait and see. This meeting will be what determines it all, I guess." Sonic nodded.

"Yeah… This is horrible. What the heck is going on?" He looked at the front of the boat, and pointed. "Oh, look, we're here." They both stepped away from the railing, and made their way to the front of the boat. The boat was busy docking. When it finally was docked at one of the old docks from when there had been a base there still, they stepped off onto solid ground again. The island was very different. There was not a building in sight from the dock, and grass was starting to grow in places that used to be covered in concrete. All there was in sight was a path leading over a hill. No people, no life signs at all really. The president stepped off, followed by Omega, his large robotic feet crushing the dirt under his feet into foot-shaped holes. He was made of metal, so what did you expect? He was followed by Knuckles and Tails, after which the remaining humans stepped off. When they did, Shadow noticed that the man from the viewing of the Mor'gul footage was there.

_Hm… I must have not seen him at the meeting. I hope he doesn't cause any complications…_ Shadow snorted and started up the path. _I guess this is the right direction. _Suddenly, he heard the sound of jets as Omega skidded in next to him.

"SHADOW. THERE IS A LARGE WELL OF CHAOS ENERGY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS HILL. APPROXIMATE DISTANCE; 0.7 KILOMETERS. ALSO TO BE NOTED, THERE IS A SMALL CHAOS ANOMALY EQUAL TO THAT OF A LARGE LIFE FORM APPROACHING FROM THAT DIRECTION. APPROXIMATE DISTANCE; 20 YARDS. I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE IN OUR BEST INTERESTS TO PREPARE FOR A POSSIBLE ATTACK." Shadow nodded, slipping his gun out of his bag. Omega's arms whirred and clicked as his usual fists were retracted and replaced with two Gatling guns. As they neared the top of the hill, a lumbering figure appeared over it from the other side. The black and red armor, that massive ten foot tall frame… It was the wolverine, Jair. Shadow raised his gun quickly, but Jair raised a hand.

"Wait." His voice was extremely deep and very gravelly, booming out like a drum. Shadow noted that it also sounded… old. "I have been sent as an escort by my lord, Mor'gul. I carry no weapons." He held his hands out for emphasis. Shadow looked at his arms skeptically.

_With arms that thick, he doesn't need any. I bet its all muscle too…_ Shadow slowly nodded, sliding his gun back into the bag. Jair relaxed a little, and removed his helmet. His bearlike face was covered in scars, and he had a long white ring of fur around his collarbone, contrasting what could now be seen as a brown color. He also had white markings above his completely black eyes, making an interesting contrast. Most noticeable was that the fur on his lower jaw was mostly grey, meaning that he was pretty old. At least sixty. As Shadow completed his analysis of him, he heard a voice behind him.

"Wh-what the hell?!" He turned around and saw Team Sonic and the humans staring up at Jair with surprise, awe and fear. No surprise, seeing as Jair could probably step on many of the people here. The man who had spoke, the man from the Mor'gul viewing actually, opened his mouth again. "What are you?!" Jair looked down at them calmly, his large arms falling to his sides.

"I am a wolverine, by the name of Jair. I have come to escort you to my lord's living quarters." Sonic looked at Jair, obviously still trying to take in his size.

"Wait, aren't wolverines smaller than wolves?" Jair leaned down, picking up his helmet and ticking it under his arm.

"Not anthropomorphic wolverines. Obviously they don't have my kind here." He turned around slowly. "It is this way." Shadow and the others began to follow him, but Knuckles and Shadow eventually caught up to the lumbering mass. Shadow eyed Jair, seeing an empty sheath on his back.

"So you are the wolverine that crashed us." Knuckles looked at Shadow curiously.

"Huh? He crashed us?" Jair glanced down at both of them.

"Yes, I did tear apart that flying machine of yours. I apologize, but I was under orders." Shadow stopped for a second.

…_He's sorry?_ He hopped forward a little to catch up with Jair, looking at him strangely. "You… apologize?" Jair looked down at them again, one of those all knowing old man smiles creasing his face slightly.

"You assumed that I was like Mor'gul? I do not take pleasure from hindering or hurting my foes." Shadow blinked.

"…Wait, but are you also the wolverine that was with Skaar in the Valley all of the time?" Jair nodded. Shadow glared. "So like Mor'gul… you are a traitor."

Jair looked forward again. "I assure you... I am not and have no desire to be." Knuckles looked at him confusedly.

"How is that possible? You're sided with Skaar's enemy, aren't you?" Jair sighed.

"…Yes, I am. But that is not the concern. I am aligned with Mor'gul, but my oath was made when he was believed to be a better person. Skaar understands, and even if we meet on the field of battle, I will consider him like a son to me still." Knuckles and Shadow both looked at Jair curiously.

"Why would he understand? Why do you work for Mor'gul if you are not like him?" Knuckles questioned. Jair kept staring straight ahead, not breaking his lumbering stride.

"I may not like his motives or goals, but I have taken an oath. Skaar and I are men of honor. I will uphold my oath of service to Mor'gul until one of us dies or I am released. Without honor, you are no man." Shadow stared at the ground in front of him for a moment before returning his gaze.

"…Why are you telling us these things so freely…?" Jair smiled down at the ebony hedgehog, one of his massive hands gently patting Shadow's head. If Jair had closed his palm, it would have completely covered his head.

"I recognize you, child. I am aware that you do not know me any longer, but I know you. Tell Skaar that I send my regards." He stopped suddenly, and Shadow realized that they had reached a door. It was a massive door… Shadow looked up and saw that it was attached to a massive, but incomplete castle. It had gargoyles and spiraling towers, and looked to be imitating gothic cathedrals in design. Somehow, the stone seemed to all be a dark grey. It made the place look rather foreboding.

…_Th-that wasn't here a week ago… how is it going up so fast?_ He could just barely see the answer. All over the castle roof, he could make out strange grotesque forms in varying shapes and colors. He even recognized the demons that had attacked that man in the Valley. _Demons?_ He also noticed a rather disgusting smell. _Is that… brimstone? Why would he be using something as flammable as sulfur for a building?_ Jair pulled out a large key, putting into a lock that was so far off the ground that Shadow would have had to hop a little to reach it. He twisted it, and slowly pushed open the double doors of the castle.

* * *

_Skaar;_ Well, there you have it. Jair's a good guy? Or is he a bad guy with good intentions? Meh, that's up to you guys I guess. I wanted to put Mor'gul in this chapter, but it looks like I'll have to push it back to #20... MILESTONE!

_Knuckles;_ ...What?

_Shadow;_ He's just babbling. Throw him a cookie.

_Knuckles;_ Okaaayy... toss

_Skaar; _WHEE!


	20. To see hell though a man

Okay, almost all of this chapter is mine, just not the Canon chars or the Sonic world. Whew... chap 20... who'dathunk it would make it this far? No matter. I'm really proud of this chapter, but I think I might have messed up the wording a little, so tell me if you catch it. This chapter is R-rated for violence. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Mor'gul.

* * *

__

Recap;

Jair pulled out a large key, putting into a lock that was so far off the ground that Shadow would have had to hop a little to reach it. He twisted it, and slowly pushed open the double doors of the castle.

* * *

Not a single light was on. The only light was coming in from the open door, making a thick ray permeating the blackness. Even so, the light did not reach past it, but for some reason chose to stay exactly where it fell. The sun was on its last legs; the ray of light rapidly grew longer and thinner, until finally it was extinguished. Jair gestured for them to enter, taking what would be considered by him a small bow. "My liege awaits." Shadow slowly took a step into the blackness, his foot instantly disappearing from view.

_This darkness cannot be natural…_ Suddenly, a quiet chuckle permeated the darkness, echoing across the room. A small light appeared about thirty feet in front of Shadow, shining down from some unexplained source on the un-seeable ceiling. He could make out a small lounge chair facing away from the group at an angle, the type you see in old illustrations from Sherlock Holmes books, with a small Ottoman stool. Under the chair, a tail with thick, silky fur swished about. On the stool sat two black boots, also of a rather old design. These grew into two grey pant legs, stretching out of view as they were blocked by the armrest of the chair. On this armrest there was an arm, almost completely concealed by a dark brown loose sleeve. At the edge of the sleeve, Shadow's new eyes could easily see a hint of red fabric underneath, even from this distance. But on the arm… there was a hand, completely unconcealed by the sleeves below. It was a gray-silver color, and the fur coloring it such was thick. A single hair from that hand would be at least two inches long. That was not what drew his attention, however. Instead of the gloves that many anthropomorphic creatures wore to hide their hands, it obviously wore none. Or rather, it couldn't. Those fingers did not have what would customarily be considered "fingernails". In their place, this hand had pale, slightly yellow claws, each an inch an a half long. They curved downwards ever so slightly, showing that they were made for tearing. The hand that harbored these wicked claws was curled into a ball, and could just barely be seen supporting a grey-silver wolf-like head with its knuckles, unseen under the fur that covered them. Almost all of this head was hidden by the back of the chair, but a pair of alert, pointed ears were easily visible. A deep voice chuckled again.

"That's quite enough light, Jhirax. I'm about to light a fire." A low, quiet screech echoed from above, and the light went out, shrouding the contents of the room again. A few seconds passed, and then a small orange light appeared unexplained from a stick, held by another equally angular and clawed hand. With a flick, the match flew through the air and hit the floor in front of the chair. Flame burst into being, shining a dim orange light around the room. It cast a shadow over the chair, but illuminated a good portion of the room, revealing that the match had landed in a fireplace. The hand that had flicked the match moved into his lap, and the flipping of pages echoed through the dead silent room. "Ah… _The House of Usher_… by far, One of Edgar's best pieces of work." Jair stepped past Shadow, walking the range of the room as his loud footsteps echoed throughout the building. He kneeled before the chair, putting a hand to his shoulder and tilting his head downwards in a small salute.

"My Lord… your guests are here." Those pointed ears twitched, and the head shifted.

"So soon?" A sigh echoed through the large room. "I must have lost track of the time…" Jair nodded, stepping back out of sight into the shadows. Once again, those ears twitched, twisting around to face the group although the head remained still. "So… I _assume_ that you are all the ones I sent for?" Shadow opened his mouth, but the hand not on the armrest appeared over the back of the chair and waved him off. "I know you all are. I must admit you appeared at a bad time… I was not quite prepared to be a host yet. My suit was… dirty. I guess that's the only way to describe it." A third chuckle rang in their ears. "But… if you are already here, I guess I will just have to make with what I have on." The chair creaked as he sat up, stepping out of the chair with his back still to them. The brown sleeves proved to be a part of a leisure coat that went down a little bit past his waist. The figure proved to be larger than it was originally implied from when sitting. It stood almost six feet tall. Although he couldn't see it, Shadow could tell the front of his face was angular, like a predator.

"Well… Welcome to my home." The figure turned around, it's face still covered by the shadows. "Welcome…" Suddenly, the door slammed shut and fire began to spread around the edges of the room, blinding Shadow and the others.

_Wha?!_ Shadow covered his eyes painfully. He could feel the heat burning from the fires. Suddenly, it all faded. Shadow slowly opened his eyes, and saw that the fire, while still lining the room, was tempered to a decent level. His eyes wandered to the figure. It chuckled again.

"Again, I apologize. This castle is still under construction, obviously. I'm not a particular "fan" of electrical lighting, so I'm still perfecting the use of light through fire." Shadow could see him clearly now. He wished he hadn't. He had a good posture and a muscular, but thin frame. His leisure jacket hid a dark red button up tunic shirt with gold embroidery down either side of the row of black buttons, which explained where the red Shadow saw earlier came from. He stood with both of his hands behind his back, giving his shoulders a very straight, flat posture. It almost made him look stuck-up. Shadow didn't care about that stuff, however. It was only a footnote to what this man… Mor'gul… really was. Everything was a footnote in comparison to his face. His head seemed to have a constant tilt to it, making his eyes seem more wicked and slanted. It also cast a shadow over his eyes occasionally when his head turned, making it seem as if the very evil in his soul was bending the shadows around him, forcing them to bend to _his own_ darkness within him. So how did Shadow come to the conclusion that Mor'gul was so evil so quickly?

Skaar was right. Skaar was right about _everything._ Just being able to see him sent a little chill down Shadow's spine, just like Skaar had said. He exuded this essence of power and fear, just like Skaar had said. But… The one thing Skaar had said, but hadn't been able to describe… hadn't been able to comprehend… was his eyes. They were light blue with a tinge of even comforting warmth on the surface, but he made no attempt of concealing the lower levels. Below that was the _real _color of his eyes. They were frozen solid, like ice water. He housed a cold, calculating, but still hateful indifference. That alone seemed a little disturbing because of the _massive _intellect it housed. There was even more below that. Where his eyes hid the ice below, the ice was merely a shield to protect to world from the fire. His eyes were an assault on all of his senses. He felt like he needed to explode. Shadow could see the flames of destruction dancing in his eyes… Taste the ash in the air… Feel the heat of the fires… Smell the flesh the men, women and children as it burnt… But most of all, he could almost hear Mor'gul's mad, deliriously happy cackling as the world burnt away in the fury of his eyes. It made Shadow feel sick to the stomach. Mor'gul smiled, his head tilted in such a way that one eye seemed to consume all of Shadow's vision, the other completely hidden by the bridge of his long muzzle.

"I should also point out that dinner has not started. Feel free to wander, but don't get lost… bad things can happen here."Yet another of those quiet, carefree chuckles escaped from his lips. "I must leave you, however. You will be directed to the dining room when it is time… As I've said, I was not quite prepared for you, and did not quite finish my work. Do not worry… It should not take long." Mor'gul smiled knowingly, turning away from them and heading towards a door behind him. Shadow noticed that there was a small blood stain on his right sleeve as he turned. It was still fresh. The room stayed empty for almost ten minutes, even after he had left. Finally, Shadow turned to the President.

"…What did you say Rouge's mission was…?" The president looked down at the hedgehog.

"I didn't. But seeing your status and reputation, I see no problem in telling you. She was assigned to infiltrate this building, and gather intel." Shadow looked down at the floor.

"That was stupid of you." The President looked down at the floor as well.

"…I know."

* * *

Mor'gul walked into the dark room, his calm eyes slowly wandering around it. To anyone else the room would seem dim, but to him, it was as bright as day. He could see the walls clearly, and they were all lined with his… toys. Hooks, knives, spikes… Whatever he felt like using on the other people who entered this room. Two tall, demonic figures stood before him, Dark grey skin, red eyes, and horns included. Each one had an arm on a small figure between them, keeping her in place as she struggled. Mor'gul's eyes lit up in excitement. "Now… Where were we? Sorry for my absence, but I wanted a little break." Rouge lifted up her head and glared at him, blood running down her face from a small cut above her eye.

"If you don't let me out of here…" Mor'gul stopped her, crouching down and staring at her from her eye level.



"…You'll do nothing." Mor'gul smiled kindly, chuckling. "Do you think I care about your little armies?" He put one hand on her head as if he were talking to a child. "They may come for you, but they will all fall. Every single one of them. And you aren't going to do anything, either." He stood up, backing away and looking up at the guards. "Release her." The demons looked hesitantly at each other, before loosening their grip. In about two seconds, Rouge had floored both of them with punches and kicks. Mor'gul just smiled wider. "_Very_ good. But there is only one exit to this room… and I'm standing between you and it. What now?" Rouge looked at him hesitantly.

_This was only supposed to be recon…_ She shook her head, warding off any demoralizing thoughts. _I can make it…_ She charged towards Mor'gul, flipping over him at the very last minute and landing behind him. He did not move. Rouge smiled one of her little smiles, and kept running. Suddenly, he was in front of her, two feet away. She skidded to a stop, confused. She looked behind her, but saw him again, still standing there. He tilted his head and twisted it so that he could see her and smiled.

"Why do you run if you have nowhere to run to…?" The darkness of the room seemed to bend around them, concentrating into Mor'gul's being. Rouge felt a chill go down her spine, and turned to run another way. He was there. She turned again. He was there. He was… everywhere. Smiling, chuckling, laughing, each time locking her eyes with his. No matter which way she turned, she saw him.

_Wh-what?!_ Her resolve was weakening, and they both knew it. She looked around fearfully, tying to find a way to escape. Suddenly, he was there, right in front of her. She made a small squeak and jumped up, her first instinct to kick him in the shoulder. As her foot swung down towards him in a downwards swing, he just cocked his head and smiled from ear to ear with those terrifying eyes of his wide, as if trying to consume her.

"You look… tasty." She closed her eyes in fear as her foot met with his shoulder with a resounding crack. She opened her eyes hesitantly, her wings extended to hold her up in the air. Suddenly, his hand was on her throat, that creepy ear to ear smile still on his face. His other was on her foot, keeping her from retracting it. She flapped her wings frantically in a feeble attempt to escape his deathlike grip… but to no avail. His grip around her throat tightened, and she gasped quietly. "A horrible feeling, isn't it? The feeling of choking to death." He quickly walked forward, slamming her against the wall in front of him. His grip around her throat loosened, moving up to her chin as his claws dug into her cheeks. He began to lean in… closer… closer… His muzzle touched her ear. "Now…" his voice was a quiet, rasping whisper. "How about I just tear that pretty little face of yours…" His claws broke the skin of her cheeks, almost piercing the inside of her gums. "Right… Off." A scared tear ran down her face, and she kneed him in the chest with her dangling leg. He pulled back ever so slightly, and she tried to break his grip on her face by punching his elbow. It dislocated with a sickening crack, but his grip stayed resolute. In fact, his smile grew disturbingly wider.

"Now, now…" he whirled around, throwing her through the air. "I wouldn't have done that." She smashed into the opposing wall, groaning quietly.

"Uhn…" She realized she had not slid to the floor. Dazed, she slowly lifted her head. Mor'gul was holding her by the arms now, pinning them. He held her out, up in the air away from him.

"Yes… I think you'll make rather nice decoration where you are." Rouge looked at him confusedly, fear still present in her eyes, as he began to lift her up a bit higher. He pushed forward, and suddenly she felt agonizing pain arc across her body. She closed her eyes and bit her lip until it bled, refusing to scream. Mor'gul stepped back, blood covering his hands. "Yes… much like a holiday ornament!" Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked down. A rusty, jagged hook stuck from each wing. They had entered at the bottom and torn her membrane until they had reached her bone. Her wings were in tatters. "I don't think you'll be flying… ever again." Rouge could feel tears going down her face. The pain was near unbearable. But to never be able to use her wings again... That hurt far more. Mor'gul leaned in towards her, a clawed hand slowly sliding across her face in a fatherly manner as his smile changed to carefree and kind. "Now, how about we have a little chat?" Rouge glared at him, tears streaming down her face, and spat on his muzzle.

"I'M NOT TELLING A MONSTER LIKE YOU ANYTHING!!" her voice screeched as loud as she could muster it to, putting all of her pain and fury into it. Mor'gul pulled back, sighing and quickly wiping the spit off of his face.

"Well, I gave you a chance… His smile changed back to that demonic expression of unparalleled joy. "Oh well!" He turned away from her, looking at the most cluttered of his walls. "Hm… I feel like using… wax. Yes, I think wax will be just perfect!" he chuckled, humming to himself as he started a large fire in a fireplace nearby. After the fire was roaring, he licked some of her blood off of his hands. "Ah…" A look of contentment passed across his face as he closed his eyes momentarily. "You _are _tasty. I'll have to try bats more often." His eyes opened, and smiled at her darkly. "Most… refreshing!" Rouge flinched away from his gaze. His look quickly returned to carefree, and he began to hum again. He pulled a massive pot out of the clutter and dropped about three hundred candles into it. As he put the pot over the fire, his other hand fumbled on a table with more sharp objects on it. "Ten…? No, eight should do just fine!" His hand pulled away, clutching eight ten-inch-long nails. Rouge quivered at the sight of them, sending more arcs of pain down her spine as she hung helplessly. "Oh… you're going to tell me everything…" He smiled quietly, standing up and turning towards her, nails in hand. The vision of him standing there, dimly illuminated by the fire, that horrible, horrible look on his face… It was burnt into her mind for all eternity."We're going to have some fun, you and I." Her screams echoed through the room, not escaping the thick stone walls.

* * *

Well, there it is. An extra thousand words, but what can I say? He's my main villian, he has to have the most personality out of all of my chars. Read and review. By the way, the House of Usher thing was an Edgar Allen Poe book, and he is acredited as more or less the father of the genre of modern horror.


	21. The Bloodtaker

I'm so sorry about the late update, but I have a lot to do nowadays. Just like every school year, really... I rarely even get to read my friend's stories, and they are all really good stories!! I wish I could... Well, I think I am going to change the rating to R within the next three chapters, but I was curious about your guys' opinions. The thing with Rouge was pretty basic really, compared to some of the other things I might have him do... I might save some gory stuff for the sequels, if I ever have the time to get to them. Hence my predicament. What do you guys think? Kinda gory now, or the possibility of it being gorier at a later date?

_Shadow;_ I'm not reading another goddamn disclaimer. Everything that applies to the other chapters applies here too.

* * *

_Recap;_ "Ten…? No, eight should do just fine!" His hand pulled away, clutching eight ten-inch-long nails. Rouge quivered at the sight of them, sending more arcs of pain down her spine as she hung helplessly. "Oh… you're going to tell me everything…" He smiled quietly, standing up and turning towards her, nails in hand. The vision of him standing there, dimly illuminated by the fire, that horrible, horrible look on his face… It was burnt into her mind for all eternity. "We're going to have some fun, you and I." Her screams echoed through the room, not escaping the thick stone walls.

* * *

Tails wandered the halls of the massive stone building, occasionally stopping and leaning against a wall to admire the architecture or feel the fabric of a particularly comfortable looking chair. Well, that's what it looked like to anyone who might be watching. Every time Tails touched something he was leaving a near-microscopic pulse-sonar device on whatever it was, firmly attached to whatever he touched because of a thin jell the small machine would release upon leaving his hand. To the uninterested eye, it might look like a stain or a crumb from some food, as each one was about four times the size of a period. Even the most attentive of eyes would overlook it unless they knew what to look for. Sonic had split the group up to search the place. Sonic was circling the perimeter of the massive building, Knuckles was somewhere underground inspecting the foundation, Omega was scanning the rooftops, documenting as much as he could about the creatures still working on the roof, and Shadow was doing the same thing Tails was doing. They figured from the building's size that they could practically have the blueprints in an hour if they moved quickly. Tails had already covered two of the six floors that were completed. It really was going to be a massive place. He didn't even know what all those rooms were for. All of the rooms above the first two floors were empty. Even so, they may be filled eventually, so he had put plenty of his "bugs" on the walls just in case. Tails made sure to do a good job. After all, Sonic was counting on him. Tails smiled a little. He was so cool… Sonic was the kind of guy Tails aspired to be when he was older. Sonic was the best role model a kid his age could have. Tails may have the mind and maturity of one far beyond his years, but he was still only eight and Sonic was the only "family" he had ever known. In Tail's eyes, Sonic was the cooler older brother he had never had. This was the first time in a long time that Sonic had trusted him in such a potentially dangerous situation, and he wasn't going to fail him now.

Tails realized that while he was reminiscing, he had continued to wander, putting his "bugs" down almost automatically, and had no idea where he was. _Well, all I have to do is get some bearings from outside…_ He looked around, and saw a window. After pushing the hinged window open, he climbed onto the windowsill and started to climb out of the window. With a small hop, he took flight and took a quick glance around. From the outside, he could see almost the entire island. It really did look beautiful without the concrete. The grass was lush, and trees were starting to sprout every here and there. The sun had already set of course, but the moon was bright and gave the landscape a distant, idyllic appearance. _Yeah right… who'd have thought that this place housed someone with eyes like Mor'gul's…?_ Tails looked down, and realized that he was right above the front door, which was mysteriously ajar. "Oh… That's convenient. I guess I can just go through and wait for everyone in the lobby." Tails just barely started to lower his altitude when he heard a scratching noise behind him. He curiously circled around- and found a pair of white, pupil-less eyes staring back at him. He pulled back quickly. "Ah!" The eyes belonged to a deformed, ape-like creature perched on the overhang of the window that had a boar snout and tusks, not to mention six spiraled horns growing from its head. It tilted its head to the side, a wide, sharp toothed smile spreading across its snout.

_Gor'nok ro ke-narat…_ Its voice was screeching, yet strangely guttural at the same time. _bṝokhat de-shier, ze?_ Tails hesitantly started to fly backwards, watching the creature cautiously. Suddenly, with a joyous screech, it jumped from the rooftop towards Tails. With a frantic gasp, Tails dive-bombed towards the ground, the creature falling behind him. He was only six stories up, so this dive took only about half a second before he pulled up abruptly, the creature flying by him in its downward decent. Tails watched as it twisted around to face him, a long, reptilian tongue licking the sides of its snout before it hit the ground with a sickening splat. The body remained in its twisted, broken position for a few moments, but suddenly seemed to melt and steam away leaving nothing behind. Tails gaped.

_What the heck was that thing?_ He hesitantly landed, slowly walking over to the area the body had disappeared in. The ground was even dry. He slowly looked around, cautious for any more demons. After a few seconds of nervous glancing, Tails walked back in through the front doors. Everyone else was waiting for him, done with their respective tasks. Sonic looked at him curiously.

"Hey Tails. Are you okay? You look a little startled." Tails shook his head, composing himself.

"No… I just met one of the things that are building the roof, that's all…" Omega's empty eyes focused on Tails, seeming to scan him.

"INJURIES; MINIMAL. HEART RATE; 70/60. CONDITIONS OPTIMAL, NO CONTAMINANTS DETECTED."His eyes flashed for a second, and returned to their empty stare on the opposing wall. Shadow leaned against the robot's leg, Omega not seeming to notice.

"Well, I placed all of my sonar receivers. You, Tails?" Tails nodded.

"Most of them. How did everyone else do?" Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, nothing to see outside. The place is pretty wide around though. I didn't see any trace of where that "well of chaos energy" or whatever Omega mentioned was coming from, though."

Knuckles, still a bit dirty, brushed a bit of dust off of his shoulder and began his account.

"Well, his foundation was well done and placed conveniently on a sheet of bedrock a few feet below ground level. No real weaknesses there unless we were to place a few explosives near all of the woodwork." Shadow looked up.

"Did you happen to smell sulfur down there?" Knuckles looked at Shadow curiously.

"Uh, no… why?"

"I smelled some as we entered the building before." Tails looked at Shadow, curious at his statement.

"Where could it have been coming from?" Shadow shook his head, signaling that he didn't know. They all turned to Omega. "What about you, Omega?"

"THE ROOFTOP WAS APPROXIMATELY 64 PERCENT COMPLETE, GOING AT APPROXIMATELY 2 PERCENT AN HOUR TILL COMPLETION. SOME AREAS WERE LEFT BARE, AS IF TO ADD TOWERS OR PARAPETS AT A LATER DATE. THE ROOFTOP WAS INHABITED WITH APPROXIMATELY 674 DEMONIC FIGURES OF VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES." Sonic bowed his head.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't try anything here unless Mor'gul starts it. Don't wanna bring that lot down on us." Shadow looked outside.

"…Speaking of trying something… I think it is time to start making our way to the dining room." He rolled his eyes irritably, his voice dripping with sarcasm in his next statement. "We wouldn't want to disappoint our _gracious host._" Sonic pointed at the doors that Mor'gul had gone through before.

"Maybe it's through there?" They walked over, pushing the doors open. They were in a large, grand room, with a staircase leading to the second floor across from them and a red carpet leading to it from the door they just entered. Tails looked up and saw a gorgeous chandelier, as well. After a moment, he also noticed a delicious aroma drifting from one of the many doors on the sides of this "lobby". Following his nose, he found himself in front of a large pair of mahogany doors.

"Hey guys, I think this is the dining room or the kitchen or something." The rest of them walked over, going through the doors, while Tails took a last quick glance over the lobby. He saw a speck on a wall near a pair of doors on the opposite side of the room, and went to investigate. Upon much closer inspection, it was one of his pulse-sonar receivers. _Well, Shadow came through here. That's good._ He just started to turn away, when he heard something and turned around again. There was a noise… coming from the other side of the door… Tails couldn't quite pin what it was. He looked the full height of the door, and noticed a speck of something on the floor. Leaning down, he touched it, rubbing his fingers together.

_Blood?_ He looked at the door nervously. _What is behind this door…? _Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder tightly. He tried to turn around, but was pinned in place by the painful grip. He felt something brush his ear, and heard a hoarse whisper inches away from his ear.

"Ah, blood… doesn't it feel so _warm_ between your fingers?" Tails felt hot breath on his neck as the voice chuckled. "It's almost comforting… isn't it?" The grip loosened ever so slightly, and Tails used it as an opportunity to tear the hand away and turn quickly. He looked around frantically, but the room was empty. Another deep chuckle resounded around the room. "Aren't your friends waiting for you…?" Tails looked around nervously one last time before walking back to the door the others had gone through.

_I've heard that chuckle before…_ he pushed the door open slowly. Before him was a sprawling table, stretching across the entire room in front of him. The room itself was very well lit, and was fairly narrow but very long to accommodate the table, which would probably sit about thirty people. The members of Sonicteam sat at one side, except for Shadow, who chose to sit on the end closest to Tails. The humans sat at the other. At the end farthest from Tails, Jair stood behind the chair there. Mor'gul sat in the chair Jair stood over. Tails gaped. _That chuckle… that was Mor'gul, so how is he here…?_ Mor'gul put his chin in his hands, which were propped up on his elbows on the table.

"Well, it would seem we are all here. Well, while we waited for you child, it was decided that we would get to negotiations before eating. Get the business out of the way." He smiled one of those friendly, close-eyed smiles and tilted his head downwards. "Now, who wishes to begin?" There was a moment of silence, and then the president leaned forward.

"…What exactly do you want…?" Mor'gul chuckled.

"What do villains usually want? Submission. Be it death or enslavement, all they ever want is a form of submission." He tapped his claw on the table nonchalantly. "I do not want you all to die. I simply wish for submission." He slumped in his chair slightly, leaning on his armrest with one hand and calmly making slow, circular hand motions. "Your governments will remain in place, simply answering by me. Well, people under my control. I will most likely return to the Valley of Chaos when this is all over. The point is everything will run exactly as it does now, just under my watchful eye. " Seeing the surprise on their faces, he leaned forward again. "You wonder why I wish control over you?" He chuckled. "Well, let me give you a few hints. I do not care about your money, or your influence. I also do not care about the power I would acquire from owning a country. I have plenty of my own." The president looked at him curiously.

"You… you do not want anything that comes from submission, just submission itself? Why?" Mor'gul smiled slyly.

"Well if I told you, it would spoil the surprise wouldn't it?" The president's eyes hardened.

"You are simply obsessed with control, then." Mor'gul cackled.

"Close, but a little off the mark!" He straightened, improving his posture. "The question is… will you accept?" The president stood up slowly.

"…And if we don't…?" Mor'gul's previously, calm, kind eyes and light demeanor were suddenly gone. The well lit room suddenly seemed as dark as night. His eyes now seemed to glow with a dark, unquenchable bloodlust, consuming everything around them. A wide, evil smile split across his face.

"Well, you'll all just have to die." The president's nerve was rattled as he stared into Mor'gul's eyes, and he slowly sat down. As soon as he did, everything seemed to fade away. Mor'gul's look of fatherly kindness returned to his face, and he sat back into his chair. "…Well?" Sonic and Shadow exchanged glances, and stood up slowly. Tails couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were going to say. He knew they would deny the offer, of course, but how would they word it… Mor'gul seemed… unstable. Sonic nodded to Shadow, and turned to Mor'gul.

"Y'know, we've never been the type to give in to requests from psychos like you." Shadow nodded, his own deeper voice adding to the conversation.

"We do not know what you would do to this planet with a position in it as strong as America's. Even if we did… we would never give in to a twisted mind like you." He locked eyes with Mor'gul, a bold move since that gleefully dangerous look had returned in them. "As representatives of Sonicteam, we declare war on your terrorist actions." Mor'gul said nothing, but looked to the humans. The man on the left of the president whispered something frantically to him, but was silenced with the wave of a hand. Tails squinted at the man.

…_That's… the Secretary of Defense! THAT'S who Skaar said was crooked!_ The president nodded to himself.

"We decline your attempt of occupation." Mor'gul smiled.

"So… you have chosen the hard way! Good. I was hoping you would. I believe that puts us at war, and as such, you are no longer welcome in my home. I ask you to leave as soon as you can." He looked at their curious faces and smiled. "Did you think I would kill you if you declined me?" He chuckled yet again. That was becoming an annoying habit of his. "Oh no, that would make things too easy! Go on, go build up your defenses! Prepare your attacks! You will find them all useless." The man from the viewing of the tape with Mor'gul on it stood up, indignant.

"Do you have any idea what powers we possess, you idiot?!" Tails could see the president trying not to shake his head in annoyance. The man continued.

"We will simply blow this island away! Leave no land left! What is it with you animal-hybrid things? You all are so confident that your primitive methods can beat sheer firepower!" Mor'gul's face had been hidden in shadow this entire time. After a few moments, a quiet chuckle escaped his lips. This chuckle grew, Mor'gul breaking into full out laughter. He stood up violently, turning his back to the table and stepping away from everyone else. He put his hands on his head, squeezing as if trying to hold it together while it tried to explode. Everyone was taken aback by this insane outburst, and slowly got up as if to leave. Mor'gul's laughter quickly subsided, and he turned around, wiping tears from his eyes as he sighed.

"Ohh… I am sorry…" He kind of laughed again, rubbing his face. "It is just so… _hilarious _of you to say such things!" He leaned against a wall, trying to quell his crazed laughter. "You _really _don't understand, do you?!" He regained his composure, still panting quietly to recover from his laughing fit. "Did you know that my underlings call me "The Bloodtaker"? I doubt it." He covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. "They are justified to do so after all, since that is roughly what my name means in this language!" Mor'gul turned on the wall he was leaning on, leaning on his back so that his right side was much more visible than his left. "I am not some evil despot, hiding behind my invincible armies. I am not a villain like the ones you read about in books, driven by greed or hate." He laughed once, covering the left side of his face with one hand. "And I am _certainly_ not a villain like that fool Eggman, who helps you all save the world in times of crisis, and occasionally shows pity to women and children!" He cackled again, leaving Tails to contemplate how he knew about Eggman for a few moments. "Oh, you poor, poor infants…" Mor'gul calmed down eventually, and the widest, scariest smile Tails had ever seen crossed his face as he looked towards them from the angle he was standing at, only the right side of his face visible. His eyes widened as well and just looking at them made Tails feel as if he would never be happy again. "_I'm the monster your Mommy and Daddy would tell you scary stories about to scare you into going to bed on time!"_ He turned away, cackling madly. "_You get in that bed young man, or Mor'gul the bloodtaker will visit you in your sleep!"_ He staggered to the door on the other side of the room, Jair opening it for him. "_If you don't finish those vegetables, I'll have Mor'gul the bloodtaker come and flay you!" _The door closed, but his roaring laughter still echoed through the building terrifyingly. _Mor'gul the bloodtaker is coming to get you!" _

* * *

There you go, and it's a page longer than the last chapter.

_Skaar(OC);_ So it's two pages longer than it usually is. why didn't you just say that, you great fool?

_Skaar;_ Uh... Heh. Oh, and one more thing I want your opinion on, I'm thinking that I will take a page out of the book of my friend Darkspinesilver92 and start writing smaller, but faster and better chapters. I hate having to come back and keep writing from my old place, so I think I would be more likely to work on the story if it only took say a half hour to hour to write out chapters for. I'll have a lot more chapters, but the story will progress faster and hopefully better. I'm only doing five page updates as it is, what do you think I should do? go for faster or longer chapters? (Who knows, I might be able to update three times a week or more!)

* * *


	22. The Sheath to the Madness

well, I had some spare time, (which should not have been wasted doing this) and decided to try writing out a chap. This took me a while, but I'm still working on this whole "faster updates" concept... This chapter gives us a glimpse into the crazier side of Mor'gul.

* * *

_recap;_ Mor'gul calmed down eventually, and the widest, scariest smile Tails had ever seen crossed his face as he looked towards them from the angle he was standing at, only the right side of his face visible. His eyes widened as well and just looking at them made Tails feel as if he would never be happy again. "_I'm the monster your Mommy and Daddy would tell you scary stories about to scare you into going to bed on time!"_ He turned away, cackling madly. "_You get in that bed young man, or Mor'gul the bloodtaker will visit you in your sleep!"_ He staggered to the door on the other side of the room, Jair opening it for him. "_If you don't finish those vegetables, I'll have Mor'gul the bloodtaker come and flay you!" _The door closed, but his roaring laughter still echoed through the building terrifyingly. _Mor'gul the bloodtaker is coming to get you!" _

* * *

Everything seemed to be in a haze. They all just seemed to wander off, not really paying attention. Shadow couldn't help but feel a little disturbed. Mor'gul was definitely a raving lunatic. He needed to be stopped. The thing that disturbed him wasn't that though. Two things disturbed him, as a matter of fact.

The first was the speed in which Mor'gul's personality could change. From what he had seen, Mor'gul had a wise, fatherly demeanor most of the time. But in there, during the so-called "negotiation", Mor'gul had changed not only his attitude and demeanor, but the entire atmosphere of the room in less than a second, then reversed it almost instantly. _His will is overpowering… he has complete control at all times. No matter what game you play, you're playing it his way… Sometimes without realizing it, I bet. That and he seems to be able to change his entire personality at will. He's like a bipolar patient, but he seems so… dominant over how his personality alters. I wonder what Mor'gul's __**real**__ personality is._

The second thing that disturbed him was how Mor'gul seemed to treat it all like some game. A game he knew was rigged. Shadow was actually a little nervous about Mor'gul, because it seemed like Shadow was just starting to watch a SAW movie… only to realize that he was one of the main characters. _Well, I'm not going to play any "games" with that sick bastard._ _Rouge is still missing…_ _Who knows what he did with her._

Shadow suddenly looked up, and realized that he had somehow ended up back at the docks. Everyone else was there as well. Everyone looked around awkwardly. Finally, Tails spoke up.

"Well? It's obvious that we cannot do anything here. He's got too many of those creatures, and then we have to factor in subordinates like Jair. Jair enough is intimidating, but if Mor'gul has anyone or anything stronger on this island, then we'll need more than what we have here." The sound of his voice seemed to bring the others back from the dead, and they slowly filed on to the boat, most of the humans going down to lower levels. Within moments, the ship was moving back across the dark, calm water, the only ample illumination from the bright moon above.

* * *

Within Mor'gul's grand castle, the wolf himself sat in a dark room, the only light coming from a candle on the small table in front of him. He sat leaned forward in a chair, pencil in hand and paper on table. With a small smile, he began to draw. He had not done three strokes when a feminine voice echoed through the room, causing him to twitch and break his tip. "What's this? _More_ of your little drawings?" Something moved just out of reach of candlelight. Mor'gul looked and his pencil and sighed, before beginning to sharpen it again with his claws.

"Aira, I _need_ to draw these things. You of all people should understand that." He twitched once again, one hand flying to his left temple as he tried to suppress a crazed, sadistic smile which only seemed to spread across his left side. Without the support of his left hand, he almost banged his chin on his table before correcting himself. Even so, he still managed to chuckle evilly. "If I don't draw the things I see..." he broke off with another cackle, which he had to quickly suppress. "The darkness will _consume me."_ He slowly straightened, picking up his pencil and admiring the sharpness of the tip.

"I can hear it… even now…" The candle mysteriously extinguished, but a pair of light blue eyes glowed with no known light source behind them. "_I can hear the blood coursing through your veins, Aira."_ There was a shifting as Mor'gul stood up, his eyes still aflame as they turned to a pair of equally bright purple ones. "_It calls to me… I want to taste your flesh… to feel your warm blood running down my throat… to smell the fear on my victim… you… as the life leaves your body…"_ The purple eyes shifted, and with a bright flash the room was alight.

A female Dark grey fox wearing a green dress stood across the room from Mor'gul, a bright ball of pure light hovering above her. She was about four feet tall, and held a quiet grace about her. Her purple eyes observed as Mor'gul recoiled from the massive field of light, snarling. "_I CRAVE DEATH!"_ She slowly walked over to Mor'gul's crouched form at the edge of the shadows, crouching down to his level. He did not in any way look like the tall, collected man that had greeted the heroes before. He was no longer that man that had that air of quiet intelligence in any way. Now he was a snarling, wild wolf. His eyes exuded such uncontrolled bloodlust that any other creature would have gone into terrified seizures, but not the vixen before him. This look had been directed at her many times.

Her hand reached up and touched his muzzle. He twitched, but seemed reluctant to pull away. A seductive, closemouthed smile touched her features. "Let me be the sheath to contain your madness, my lord." His claws dug into the stone floor, sending cracks across it, but he did not budge as if afraid that her hand might retract. Her smile became dark and evil as her hand moved up to his ears. Her grip tightened around his right one, and with a twist she threw him into the light. She stood up quickly, Mor'gul snarling as he flipped off of his back onto all fours.

With a distinctively canine growl, he bounded at her, leaping at her and aiming to tear open her throat with his fangs. With a snarl of her own, she gripped his upper and lower jaws upon impact, the two of them falling to the ground. She glared as she held his teeth above her throat, inches away from a bloody death. He snapped at her, holding her down with his arms. Suddenly, it all stopped. He closed his mouth quickly, a curious, thoughtful look on his face. He slowly stood up, brushing himself off. He politely helped Aira up, both of them acting as if nothing had happened as Mor'gul sat down, taking his pencil back into his hand. His hands moved with an inhuman speed and accuracy, and after a while, his familiar corner-of-the-lip smile returned. Aira sat down across from him in a chair placed on the other side of the table. She looked at his artwork skeptically.

"Who is it this time?" Mor'gul chuckled, his light demeanor once again apparent.

"A woman… one my nemesis held in great respect." He smiled. "Well… until recently." Aira continued to watch him, her eyes darting to keep up with his fast movements.

"A woman… I shouldn't be worried, should I?"Mor'gul smirked, as did Aira.

"Of course not, Aira. She is dead." Aira looked at his face, lifting his head from his artwork.

"Ah… so, it is that woman Skaar fell in love with?" Mor'gul looked at her with an annoyed expression before his eyes returned to his work.

"Yes. Curious isn't it?" He chuckled. "Even your names are similar, you know. He spends his life with a woman like her, and I just can't seem to get rid of you."Aira flicked his ear as if punishing a child.

"Remember wolf, I can leave at any time." Mor'gul, finally annoyed beyond his limit, dropped his pencil once again and stood up. He planted his hands on the table, his grip splintering it as he leaned forward and snarled at her soundlessly.

"What is stopping you, Vixen?" She leaned in, the same snarl on her face.

"You know very well why I choose to keep such psychotic company as you… Wolf." The table snapped in half under his pressure, and before she could twitch, he grabbed her by the throat and smashed her into the wall behind her. She half-gasped as he wrenched her into the air, dragging her across the wall.

"Why do you torment me, woman?!" He roared. She smiled, a thin trickle of blood running down her lip.

"I'm… your sheath… remember?" Mor'gul's eyes widened as his grip loosened, and she dropped to the floor, gasping for air. He stared at his hand for a moment before bursting out into roaring laughter. He leaned against the wall, one hand on his forehead.

"I see right through the souls of men, and yet no creature has ever comprehended me. Why in the twelve hells are you the one woman whose eyes pierce right through me?!" She slowly stood up, the seductive smile playing on her face again.

"We are too alike, wolf. Ambition, hunger… Fury…" She began to circle towards him, her eyes slanted. She leaned in close to his ear, her shoulders touching his chest. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"…Madness…" Mor'gul chuckled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Yes, there is always that." She brought up her head, licking the bottom of his chin playfully as the light she conjured went out. By the dim, strangely revived glow of the candle, now spilled across the floor, his unfinished picture was still just barely visible. It portrayed the still smiling face of Aila.

* * *

There you go. Read and Review please!


	23. The Deadly game

Well, sorry for the late update, but this is the biggest chapter I've done yet to make up for it. I need to make time to write... Damn you homework. DAMN YOOOUUUUU!!11!!1!One!

By the way, ignore the excessive use of the "Insert horizontal ruler" button. I had to do a few scene changes. And as of now this fic is an R-rated fic! Yay violence.

-Insert disclaimer here-

* * *

Recap; "…Madness…" Mor'gul chuckled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Yes, there is always that." She brought up her head, licking the bottom of his chin playfully as the light she conjured went out. By the dim, strangely revived glow of the candle, now spilled across the floor, his unfinished picture was still just barely visible. It portrayed the still smiling face of Aila.

* * *

Aira awoke slowly. She had a headache for some reason that she could not pinpoint. As she looked around the room she was in, she realized something was missing. The bed she slept on was large, but empty other than her. _That fool wolf didn't sleep again. That's the fifth day in a row._ With a yawn, the vixen stood up slowly and made her way across the room to a trunk. The trunk was very old and cryptic in design, and was marked in scratchy runes all along all of the seams. It had no lock, but would have proven un-open able to anyone trying to do so. She mumbled a word under her breath, and the trunk opened on its own.

Most of the contents were hidden by the layers of clothing on the top, but she had to rummage through a few layers, surfacing a shrunken head, jar of blood, and seven vials that glowed ominously before finally pulling out a green dress with spaghetti straps and slipping it over her head. As she zipped up the back, she said a quick word of dismissal and the trunk snapped shut. _Wouldn't want anyone getting into that…_

With a quick look in the full body mirror next to said trunk, she made her way into the entry room to the large but relatively empty bedroom she was leaving. Mor'gul sat at a small table in the middle of the room, playing chess with himself. It was the only furniture in the room other than the chair he sat in and one across from it. Sitting next to the chess set on the table was a stone cup, steam rising from the liquid within. Mor'gul did not look up, but picked up the cup and handed it to her.

"I heard you wake up. It's tea." She looked at it skeptically.

"Only _you_ would "hear me wake up" from all the way out here. This isn't your "special tea", is it?" He chuckled, moving a piece and rotating the board to play the other side.

"No, I know you don't favor it." She smiled, sitting down across from him.

"Well, I have a bit of a craving. Foxes are omnivores, you know." Mor'gul pulled out a red velvet pouch, smiling as he opened it with one hand. He poured a bit of yellow-gray powder into his hand and sprinkled it into the cup. It dissolved instantly into the tea. She smelled the tea and looked around the room slowly.

"This place is so dull. You need to get more things in here." Mor'gul just continued smiling his charming little smile.

"Well, I'm still in the process of "decorating",and although I like to live and dress luxuriously, I hold no weight in material items as anything less than sentimental. She just nodded.

"You didn't sleep again, Mor'gul. You may not need it like other people do, but don't press your luck too far." He sighed.

"I had to do something." Her eyebrow raised and she took a sip of the tea.

"Really." Mor'gul nodded. "And what would that be?"

"Just putting plans in motion."

"Plans? What did that twisted mind of your come up with now, wolf?" Mor'gul looked up from his game with a bored expression.

"I've decided to teach the "Heroes" of this world a lesson. They will fear me as they should." Aira tilted her head curiously.

"Oh?"Mor'gul looked back at his game for just a moment before standing up and facing a window right behind him.

"Do you know how many "good" and "evil" stereotypes there are?" She shook her head. "Neither do I, but they seem to have thrown me in with their own stereotypes, Like the evil warlord or sadistic political despot. Strong, possibly terrifying, but ultimately beatable." He chuckled. "I've got to prove to them that I am not like those fools, or they will not pose a challenge." He turned back to her. "Do you know what every hero's weakness is?" She shook her head once again as he continued. "That's the nice thing about being a villain. We can be rash, unpredictable, and come in varying degrees of a threat. Heroes are all the same." He shrugged, pacing a little. "Every single hero in the world has a martyr hiding in them. They think that because of their glorified ideals, they should be the ones to take all of the pain in life. Always telling their allies; "go back!" "I can't let you die!" without realizing the pain they bring on others with their deaths. It's rather amusing, actually. I have prepared a series of lessons to… "Educate" them. They all prize their friends and loves, so that is where I will strike first."

He cackled. "This particular group is lead by men, so it is their women I will target first. When I am done they will come at me with fury, which can easily be turned into frailty. Their own strength will tear them apart in a nexus of fear and grief. I shall only leave the fighters alive, so that they can come at me as a unified force. It is then that they will realize how weak they really are, and watch as I crush all of their hopes and dreams of revenge or justice. I've already started to play my little game." He looked at the sun, and smiled. "In fact, I'm running behind."

Suddenly, he was gone. The stone floor he had stood on was cracked, and Aira had to put a hand on the table to stop it from falling over. "I _hate_ it when he does that."

* * *

Light shined in from the window above. The room was small, and seemingly empty. The bed right below the window was empty. Shadow was leaned against the wall of the room across from the bed, right next to the door. Other than a thin blanket draped over his shoulders, he was just slumped against the wall asleep. The door began to creak open slowly. Shadow's eyes flickered ever so slightly at the sound, but he remained inert. Just as someone started to enter the room, there was a snapping noise. Shadow's eyes sprung open and he stood up quickly, smashing the door closed on the person's shoulder. The person grunted in pain as Shadow pushed harder on the door and pulled out his pistol

. "…I'm going to take pressure off of this door slowly. You are going to step into the room." He cocked his gun for emphasis. When he lifted off of the door, it swung open and revealed the President, flexing his crushed shoulder painfully. Shadow's eyes widened and he quickly put the gun away. "Sir… I-I didn't know it was you." The president attempted a smile, but it came out closer to a grimace since it coincided with a loud snap from his shoulder.

"No harm done. Well, other than to my shoulder. Maybe I should stop arguing the Secret Service's pleas that I take an entourage when I go with you." He rolled his shoulder, popping it a little more before straightening his suit. "In my opinion, you're protection enough." Shadow knew that the real reason the Secret Service wanted to have an entourage around him was because they didn't trust Shadow, but he didn't really care. It was a trifling matter. The president fixed his tie. "How did you trigger the door like that?" He said. Shadow stooped down, grabbing a mousetrap off of the floor.

"The men working the boat had a small stock of these for when they carry perishable cargo. The doors are a bit higher off of the floor in these rooms, so I set it, slipped it under the door, and triggered it. The bar got caught on the bottom of the door, and jammed. When you opened the door, the mousetrap snapped automatically after the door got out of its way." The President looked on in interest as Shadow made hand motions to go with his words.

"…I should remember that. People with my job have a tendency to not keep it for very long. I came down here to wake you; as you might have noticed, it's quite a bit past dawn."

* * *

Shadow pulled himself up the stairs to the deck of the ship. It had been so late when the boat docked on the mainland that no one had left, too exhausted to head to their respective homes. When he got up there, he found himself face to face with a familiar pink figure.

"Hi Shadow!" Amy giggled happily at Shadow's irritated expression. He really was annoyed by people with bubbly personalities like hers. They were like flies buzzing around your head. They just… never stopped making noise.

"…What is it, Amy…" Shadow rubbed a bit of sleep out of his eyes. "Looking for Sonic?" Amy nodded.

"Well what else would I be doing? Keeping your emo butt company?" Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"…"Emo butt"?" Amy giggled again, walking past him and tapping his head lightly.

"That's you!" Shadow snorted and made his way to the dock. He found Sonic and the others standing there. Well, everyone but Omega.

"Where's Omega?" Tails shrugged.

"The just stomped off right after the boat docked. I think he had something to do at the GUN HQ. Maybe he was low on charge or took some damage on Mission Island. Shadow nodded, turning to Sonic.

"Sonic, Amy's looking for-" Shadow started, but Sonic interjected.

"I know. I had to hide in a box as she ran by…" As if on cue, a pink figure crashed into Sonic from out of nowhere.

"Sonniku!" All that he had time to utter was a quiet squeak before her weight crushed his lungs. Knuckles burst into roaring laughter.

"Man, Sonic! Why do you even try! It's like she's got a homing device in her brain!" Tails tried to hide his own smile with his hand. Even the humans were amused. Shadow had to push down a smile himself.

_Well, at least obnoxious people are entertaining._ He looked around at the humans, and their reactions. The other Sonicteam members weren't that rattled by Mor'gul, but the humans had taken quite a scare. At least they were back to how humans normally acted. Suddenly, he realized that no one at Sonicteam knew where they had gone. In fact, no one had been there since they left to investigate Mission Island. If someone got back and found them gone, and Luna in their place, someone was getting hurt. Shadow was willing to stake his life that it wasn't going to be Luna. He walked up to Tails, him being the closest, and tapped his shoulder.

"Tails, we should be heading back." Tails looked at him, and from the look on Shadow's face the smart little fox caught on instantly. Shadow nodded politely to the executives from Pentagon as Tails got Sonic and Amy's attention.

"Hey Amy, don't you think Sonic is ready to go home? We've been on the boat for a while, and it's nice to be on something that isn't rocking." Amy stood up, fixing her hair band quickly.

"Oh, right! I've never liked boats. Let's just get going so we can all relax!" Sonic was a little surprised at Amy's quick change of heart, but knew not to press his luck. Knuckles scratched the back of his head.

"You guys are going back? Well, I think I need to get back to Angel Island. It's been connected to the mainland too long, and I don't think I should be leaving the Master Emerald alone any longer considering Mor'gul's appearance." Amy frowned.

"Knuckles, can't you at least stay one more night? It's not like he knows where the island is, and why would he want the Master Emerald? Heck, no one's even _seen_ the Chaos Emeralds in forever. What use is the Master Emerald if you can't channel chaos energy and there are no chaos emeralds to negate?" Knuckles thought about it a moment.

"That's true… Only religious figures like Tikal or Skaar, or Guardians like me are able to channel chaos powers. Chaos wouldn't let anyone under Mor'gul's control taint his power with their evil…" He half smiled, still a little unsure. "I guess it will be okay for another night." Sonic shoved him playfully as they started walking.

"Bah, you just don't want to be left alone with Tikal on Angel Island." Knuckles stumbled from the shove.

"Wh-who's to say that she wouldn't stay to help fight Mor'gul?" Sonic rolled his eyes, equally from Knuckles stumbling and his slightly jumpy response.

"Yeah right… Like she'd stay here over the Master Emerald shrine. And besides…" Sonic leaned in on Knuckles' shoulder, a conniving look on his face. "Echidnas aren't as common on this planet as some of the other animaloid breeds anymore. Don't you feel obligated to repopulate or something?" Knuckles twitched, his eyes widening and a blush quickly spreading across his face.

"Y-you…!" He swung a punch at Sonic, who ducked down and popped up in front of Knuckles, sticking his tongue out and making a stupid face. Knuckles swung another punch, chasing after Sonic as he darted around. "What is it with you people?!" Amy and Tails giggled, watching them fade into the distance.

"Well, I guess we'll just meet them there." They got to Sonicteam minutes later, finding Knuckles with Sonic pinned to the wall. Knuckles, still blushing furiously, kept trying to hit Sonic in the nose but Sonic was just too wiggly. He was getting pretty close too, and would have actually hit Sonic if Sonic was laughing any harder. Sonic was practically crying from laughter as it was.

Shadow just ignored them, but Amy and Tails rushed to break up the fight. Shadow walked straight up to the door, and found two notes pinned up on it. One was written in slightly scratchy handwriting and read;

_I can't remember, but if you guys are getting back today, I'm just out to get something to eat that isn't my own cooking. Do some forms with my practice swords or whatever._

_Luna_

Shadow looked at the note with a dull expression. _Well, at least we don't have to deal with her._ He crumpled the note, threw it to the side, and flipped over the other one. The handwriting was beautiful, and flowed very well. It was familiar…

_Dear members of this establishment; _

_I apologize for my unexpected outburst last night, but it could not have been avoided. I noticed when you left my home earlier that you were not very unnerved by my strange actions. Nor did you seem to have full grasp of the situation that you are in, or you would have been of a much worse disposition._

The note continued, but Shadow finally recognized the handwriting. The formal phrasing, the use of eloquent words when unnecessary… It was Mor'gul. _He must have come by when we were still on the boat… But he would have had to leave the same time we did to accomplish that, wouldn't he?_ He read on.

_Factoring in your steadfast defiance, I have arranged a little game for you. A game to prove that I am one to be feared. I have seen the people inside of this building, and I know which ones you care for. Inside is a clue as to my victim. At the scene of my victim's death, you will find a clue as to the next one. Each victim will die more painfully than the last, I assure you. They are all people you warriors care for, so that should narrow your search. If you can stop their death and either kill or otherwise defeat me, you win. If not, the game keeps going until I have adequately ruined you._

Shadow read the note in disbelief. _He's going to start killing the people we know? _He hadn't noticed, but Amy had been fumbling with the keys to the front door for some time.

"Okay, it's not that one… ah!" Just as she inserted the key, Shadow finished the note.

_Oh, do not worry, she will live. I wanted her to describe to you in detail what happened to her._ Shadow looked up quickly and saw Amy start to open the door.

"AMY, DON'T OPE-" The door creaked open, and she turned to Shadow with that happy look on her face.

"What was that?" She turned her head to look inside, still talking. "You just kinda cut o… off…" Her face changed to horror, and all of the color drained out of it. "O-oh god…" With that, she fainted. Shadow took no time to check and see if she was okay, but instead stepped over her quickly and looked in the room.

The room was normal. No blood on the walls or entrails on the carpet. Just a strange sculpture slightly resembling a spread-winged angel in the middle of the room. Shadow slowly walked in, dazed, the sounds of the other's feet rushing to Amy's aid a distant, empty sound. No… it was not a sculpture… Suddenly he recoiled in horror. It was Rouge.

She was covered head to toe in melted wax, applied while it was still hot to burn her skin. Even under the wax, he could see that her skin was not only covered in burns and boils, but lacerations made from some sort of claw. Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head and her breathing was quick and ragged. Her arms were crossed over her chest, incapable of moving because of the wax. On each arm she had two nails sticking all the way through her flesh, their deliberately jagged tips sticking out the other side. These nails had wax poured and stacked on them as well, with lit wicks at the end to keep the wax hot and flowing into her nail wounds. He could not help but look at her large, outstretched wings. They had "candles" on them, as well. Two at the joints on her back where the wings came out, and one for each wing stabbed right through the bone that kept her membrane together. Both of the wings were tattered, but the one on the left… It was stripped bare. There was no membrane, no skin, and little muscle. The ligaments were almost obsessively preserved so that they would hold the bones of the wing together, but it would serve no purpose in that state… He felt ill, but felt compelled to glance at her face again. She was unable to blink because of dried wax on her face, and seemed delirious, but at least alive. One of the most horrifying things he saw about her was that she had four long, deep, festering cuts going parallel diagonally down her face. They started at the right ear, tearing it off almost entirely, before slowly making their way across her eye and nose. The very bottom one cut into her lip and ended there, but the other three… where they would have continued, there was nothing just three gashes dug into her exposed cheekbone and jawbone. The entire left side of her face was gone except for her eye, lip and eyelid.

Shadow almost fell over as he backed away in horror. He heard Sonic yell, and Knuckles soon after. Shadow turned to them quickly. "CALL AN AMBULANCE! GOD, HURRY!!"

* * *

Cream sat in her living room, happily playing with her dolls as her mother contently watched her. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Vanilla stood up slowly, taking her time like she always did. "

Oh, who could that be at this time of day?" She smiled. "Maybe one of your friends from Sonicteam has come to visit you, Cream. They're the only ones who really drop around." Cream jumped up happily, following her mother to the door.

"Yay!" Vanilla smiled down gently at her before looking through the door's eye.

"Oh? I guess it isn't." She opened the door slowly and found a tall, silver wolf standing there, wearing a plain grey shirt, dark blue pants, and a dark blue hoodie with the hood down. "Yes sir?" The wolf's blue eyes blinked, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Um… I'm sorry to bother you and your daughter, miss, but I'm a little lost… Your house was the closest, so I figured I'd try here first. Do you have a roadmap or something I can use…?" Vanilla just smiled kindly, Cream giggling and grabbing on to the familiar wolf's pant leg.

"Wow, you're bigger than Knuckles!" He kneeled down and looked at her eye to eye, a fatherly smile on his face.

"Really? I don't know who Knuckles is, but would you like to try the view up here?" With a fast movement, he scooped her up and put her on his shoulders. She squeaked when he grabbed her so unexpectedly, but began to laugh and bounce a little when he stood up. He looked at Vanilla, smiling with his right ear pushed over his eye by Cream's antics. "Sorry, I just really like kids." Vanilla smiled at him and her daughter, who was still giggling happily.

"I think I can find a map for you somewhere…" She stepped aside, gesturing for him to come in. As he passed her, their eyes locked for the slightest moment and she could see into them clearly.

_So deep… So… beautiful…_ He turned away just in time to miss her hiding a blush. "S-So… What is your name, sir?" Cream leaned over his head so she could look into his eyes upside down, making him look cross-eyed at her.

"Yeah, what's your name mister?" She giggled again as he set her down with a twirl. Turning around, he closed the door behind him.

"My name is Kiran. Yours?"

* * *

There. Kinda weird how messed up Mor'gul's personality is, yet he and Aira seem to function like a normal couple... when they aren't going all "crazay homicidal" on each other.


	24. A New War

Wiggy-wiggy wak! That is all.

* * *

_Recap;_ "Yeah, what's your name mister?" She giggled again as he set her down with a twirl. Turning around, he closed the door behind him.

"My name is Kiran. Yours?"

* * *

Shadow looked around the room that Rouge had been found in. _A clue_… Rouge had been whisked away a long time ago to the nearest hospital. He was worried about her, but he had to worry about the other people that could be targeted. Suddenly, he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. He turned slowly, surprised at what he found. _A… Chaos emerald?_ He walked over, picking it up slowly. It was the yellow one. _Maybe this is the clue… How else did it get here?_ "Why would he _give_ us a chaos emerald?" Shadow announced out loud. He turned it over slowly. He said that he had been watching this building… _I just have to think about who has been here. Tikal and Luna are in danger… who else has been here since the Valley was opened?_ He sighed, relaxing a little. _No one else… good. The Chaotix have been away at their own base, Cream went right home after the Valley… Mor'gul has no way of knowing about them._

* * *

Cream smiled at the large wolf seated in front of her. "Mr. Kiran, more tea?" He chuckled uneasily, most likely due to the fact that the small pink plastic chair he was sitting in was on the verge of breaking.

"No thank you, Cream. I think I have had enough." He was sitting at a child sized yellow plastic table in Cream and Vanilla's backyard, a play tea set on it. She poured some imaginary tea into his child sized tea cup.

"No, I insist!" The wolf awkwardly picked up the tiny cup, unable to slip even his pinky into the handle. He smiled at the little rabbit in front of him, chuckling again.

"Well, if you insist, how could I say no?" He started to take a "sip" when Vanilla slid open the sliding glass door to the house.

"Cream, have you put your clean clothes away yet?" Cream gasped.

"Oh, I forgot! Sorry mom, I'll go do that…" She scurried in past Vanilla. Vanilla smiled nervously at Kiran.

"I'm sorry about her behavior… we don't get much visitors, but Cream is very good at making friends. She likes to play with people." Kiran stood up slowly, having to pull the chair off of his backside and set it down again.

"Oh, it's no trouble. She is a nice little girl, and I have gone through worse at the expense of a child's imagination." He chuckled, reminiscing a little. "My little sister once made me play tea party once, but she made me wear a dress." Vanilla put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, trying not to picture the tall, muscular wolf in a dress. He leaned against their tall wooden fence, smiling at her calmly.

"No, it is true! It was bright pink. Had a lot of frills, too." She giggled a little, it getting harder and harder not to laugh as he added to the image. He looked at her in a falsely indignant way. "I would have you know I looked very pretty. Men would have lined up for me!" Vanilla couldn't hold in her laughter any more, and had to hold on to the sliding door to keep from holding her stomach. He chuckled a little too, getting off of the fence. She slowly raised her head, wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye to find him standing right in front of her. "Your daughter…" He looked at her curiously, and she realized that he did not know either of their names.

"Cream." He nodded.

"Well, Cream is very well brought up. She seems very trusting, and I notice that she does chores already. She must only be seven-"

"Six." Vanilla corrected.

"Only six? Very few people have their six year olds taking responsibility like that these days. It's nice to see someone who doesn't spoil their child as much as most of her generation is." She nodded.

"Yes, I'm doing my best to raise her." He smiled.

"Well, I may not know you two very well, but you seem to be doing it right." She smiled at the compliment.

"Sometimes I worry about that, but we seem to get by." She looked back inside. "You said that you needed directions?" He nodded. "Well, come and wait inside. I'll see if I can find a map. I think the person who lived here before left some things like that around…"

Vanilla led Kiran into the kitchen and gestured with her hand towards the dining table. With a smile, Kiran took a seat. "Thank you for being so hospitable. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything… I'd hate to be a nuisance." Vanilla walked out of the kitchen, raising her voice so she could still be heard from wherever she was going.

"No, don't worry! Cream was just playing." Kiran looked around the kitchen a little lazily and noticed a crude drawing on the refrigerator of Cream, Cheese and Vanilla standing in front of a badly colored box he assumed was supposed to be the house.

"You have a chao? I thought those were rare here." Vanilla came back in with some tattered papers.

"Well they are, but we aren't from here." Kiran looked at her, surprised.

"Oh? Where are you from then?" Vanilla set the papers on the table, and went over to the oven.

"The planet Mobius." Vanilla stopped, opening the oven. "Aren't you…?" Kiran shook his head.

"I've never heard of "Mobius"…" Vanilla looked at him curiously, pulling out a tray of steaming bread.

"…I've never heard of a non-echidna not from Mobius other than Shadow… I thought that they were the only native animaloids on earth. Not only that, but they're practically extinct." She turned away, starting to lift the bread off of the tray before dropping it abruptly, realization hitting her. "…I don't think I've ever heard of an anthropomorphic wolf on either planet…" She turned to him slowly, looking at him curiously. "Were… where did you come from?" Kiran looked at her for a few moments, not sure what to say, before lowering his head and staring at the table he sat at.

"The past…" Vanilla looked at looked at him in shock. "Thousands of years ago, there was an "anthro" version of quite a few more species on this planet." Vanilla sated at him, eyes wide.

"How…?" He shook his head.

"Apes evolved into humans, what is to stop all of the other species from developing higher states of evolution? If you're asking how I am a wolf, that is a personal matter, but I will say that I am much older than I seem." Vanilla shook her head in disbelief.

"You came from that place… didn't you?" He cocked his head curiously. "That place Cream told me about… the Valley of Chaos. How did you get here?" he looked at his lap now, his head tilting lower as to hide his face better.

"I… do you know of what has happened to Mission Island?" She half nodded, gesturing to a small television on the counter.

"A tsunami wiped the base right off of the island." She looked a little unsure of herself. Kiran shook his head.

"Didn't Cream tell you about what she saw?" Vanilla half nodded.

"I thought it was just her being imaginative… Like the Valley… When she told me about it, I asked her if she had actually seen the Valley. When she said no, I just assumed she was imagining things like children tend to…" He shook his head.

"No… we're real." Vanilla looked at him curiously.

"We?"

"Yes, I'm not the only one to leave the Valley."

"Well, I know about Skaar now, but…" He raised his head.

"My brother has escaped as well." Kiran sat up. "A horrible wolf… more evil than you can conceive. Mission Island was no accident. Skaar may have killed the people there, but when teams went to investigate, my brother Mor'gul was what was waiting for them. He tore up the entire island. He's not going to stop there, either." He put a hand on the table, standing up. "Of the two, _believe me_, the one you should fear is Mor'gul. He-" Suddenly, the wolf cut off, sniffing the air. "Wait…" His eyes widened. "Get down!" He ran across the room quickly, tackling her and pinning her to the wall.

"Wh-what are you-" she cut herself off with a scream of surprise as an enormous grey-brown reptilian arm tore through her sliding glass door. She looked at it in horror. _Th-that thing as large as the door…_ Kiran grabbed her shoulders quickly, his blue eyes locking with her brown ones.

"Stay here!" he turned around, pulling a dagger out of his hoodie. He went to slash at the arm, but it retracted quickly, kicking up dust. He coughed, and turned towards the door to find a large winged figure standing in front of him. The dust kept the figure from being properly identified, but its form fit in the doorway, so it couldn't be the source of that arm. Its voice was roaring and scratchy.

"Hmph. Another random, pointless household. What is the point of this boring rampage...?" it seemed to notice Kiran. "Ah, a survivor! At least I'll get to have some fun!" The form charged at Kiran through the dust, only to be intercepted. Kiran's knife clashed with the figure's hand, which was surprisingly undamaged.

"Wrong kind of person, Jhirax. I'm not helpless." The figure recoiled in surprise, stepping out of the cloud of still settling dust. The figure was pitch black, it's skin shining strangely. It looked just like a storybook demon, ram horns, forked tongue and all. It looked surprised.

"M-my lord?!" Kiran took a battle stance.

"You know it isn't." Jhirax's eyes hardened.

"So you survived all those millennia ago…" The demon took a step back, going to walk out of the sliding door. "This changes the circumstances. Kiran." Suddenly there was a flash of black light, much like a photo negative, and the demon was gone. Kiran slumped down, holding a mysteriously unexplained gash on his arm.

"Agh…" Vanilla gasped.

"Wh-what is happening!? Who was that!? I-" She noticed his arm. "Oh! You're hurt, Mr. Kiran!" She started to move towards her, but he waved her off.

"Get Cream…" Vanilla gasped again.

"Oh, no. CREAM!" She ran out of the room quickly, screaming Cream's name. Kiran slumped against the wall nearest to him. Within moments, Vanilla came walking back in, cradling a sleeping Cream. "She must have fallen asleep playing… Thank god, she somehow managed to stay asleep." Kiran slowly stepped outside.

"How did we not notice…" She looked at him curiously, and stepped out next to him. To her left, the few houses on the street were intact, but to her right, all she saw was destruction. It ended at her house.

"What…"

"A raid." Kiran interrupted. "No targets, Mor'gul must have just commanded his followers to cause as much carnage as they wanted. The fact that they raided this area though is a strange coincidence. Wait…" He got a curious look on his face, and took a few steps out into the street. "Oh…" as far down as he could see, everything was leveled. "He didn't target here. He was just making his way in this direction…" He ran back to Vanilla, still clutching his arm.

"W-what is it…?" He put his bad arm's hand on her shoulder.

"Miss, you need to get out of here. They might decide to come back and finish what they've started. If you have any friends who will take you in, you must go to them for now!" He turned away. "I have to stop this… It's my responsibility." He heard her mumble something, and turned back to her. "What?"

"My name isn't miss, Mr. Kiran." She held out her hand to him. "Let me start this over… It's my fault for being so rude and not introducing myself in the first place." She tried to smile, but it came off as a little nervous. "I'm Vanilla. Nice to meet you Mr. Kiran." Kiran looked at her, surprised for a moment, before taking her hand and smiling.

"Just Kiran, if you don't mind…" He politely kissed her hand, causing her to blush ever so slightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Vanilla." He looked down at the still sleeping Cream kindly, a cute little bit of drool sliding down her cheek from her open mouth. "Keep your daughter safe, Vanilla, but don't forget to look after yourself." Kiran sighed. "I know you probably want an explanation, but I can't give you one quite yet… I'll find you though, first chance I get, and explain things." Vanilla blinked.

"Wh-why do you feel the need to tell me?" He sighed again.

"Well, your house… besides, I feel like I can trust you." He smiled at her kindly, causing her to blush once again. He suddenly turned around, jogging away. "You'd best get to your friend's house as fast as you can." Vanilla looked down at Cream affectionately. "I guess we're going to be staying with your friends for a day or two, Cream…"

* * *

Well, I've gotten one of the largest homework loads I've gotten in a while, so don't expect much for at least a week. Who exactly is Kiran? Well, you're just gonna have to wait and find out. Review!


	25. The Trail of Pain Begins

Tis the season for scene changes, apparently. Oh, one thing to add to my Disclaimer; Aira and Mordreth are _mine!_ MINE! Not yours! *twitch*

_Shadow;_ ...don't ask. Let's just say... you know what? Just don't ask.

_Amy; *whispering*_He's had strep throat for like, forever, and he just got rid of it today. He's annoyed about how long it took him to write this because of the strep throat-ness.

* * *

_Recap; _"Wh-why do you feel the need to tell me?" Kiransighed again.

"Well, your house… besides, I feel like I can trust you." He smiled at Vanilla kindly, causing her to blush once again. He suddenly turned around, jogging away. "You'd best get to your friend's house as fast as you can." Vanilla looked down at Cream affectionately. "I guess we're going to be staying with your friends for a day or two, Cream…"

* * *

Her eyes flashed open. Darkness. Darkness is all that surrounded her. She felt a chill down her spine. She had never feared darkness, so why now? With a quiet groan, she sat up in her uncomfortable bed. Wait… this wasn't _her_ bed. Where was she? Everything felt fuzzy. She went to put a hand on her head, but stopped as she felt a painful tug in her arm. Slowly lowering her arm, she used her other hand to feel around the tug. It was some sort tube sticking out of her arm. Her eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness at a speed only hers could, scanned the room. When she noticed the IV stand to the left of her bed, it sunk in where she was. _Ugh… a hospital…? What happened to me?_

A floodgate opened. Blood. Fire. Pain. Everything rushed back to Rouge the bat in less than a second. She quickly curled up into a ball to try to contain her quivering. Her shaking hand began to cup over her mouth to keep her from whimpering. It was still playing before her eyes. Her body seized up. A deep, quiet chuckle echoed through her mind.

"_We're going to have some fun, you and I…"_ She had known then that she wasn't a woman to him. She wasn't even a _person_ to him. That kind of statement had all kinds of horrible meanings when a man said that to a helpless woman, but that was not a man talking to a helpless woman. It was all in his voice, his tone, his presence... Simply a man with a game to play. Rouge was… Rouge was just another pawn on a chessboard. He had even told her so, as he tore her wing to shreds.

"_I hope you don't take this personally… I may take pleasure in tearing you apart, but I have no grudge against you. You're just a pawn. It's not your fault that this is being done to you. If you wish to be angry, be angry at the King on your side of the board. Of course, I don't mind you holding this against me." _After that, he just smiled and gripped her chin, forcing him to look at her. "_Tell your friends to hold a grudge."_

A grudge. She slowly crawled to the end of her hospital cot. Reaching down, she took her medical record off of the hook it hung from. Hesitantly, she looked through it.

_Rouge the Bat_

_Patient has suffered multiple lacerations, incisions and burns across her body. Morphine until initial dressing of wounds has been complete, to keep unconscious. Start antibiotics immediately afterward with Carisoprodol and Hydromorphone. Injuries include;_

_Grade 1-2 burns covering entire body, lacerations/incisions on back, chest, abdomen and legs, puncture wounds on arms and wings (bone permeation) broken #2-4 ribs, spiral fracture of the right Ulna, punctured scapulas, crushed Phalanges of the right index and ring fingers, torn wing membrane, "skinned" left wing, infection, incisions to face, Retinal scarring of the left eye, laceration/incision damage to Cranium and Mandible, tear damage to right ear tissue, cauterization of infected areas..._

The list went on ever further, with no visible end. She was missing a section of her face as well and… well, in the condition her internal organs were, it's a miracle she hadn't been killed. They had even put her on hydromorphone, and although that was one of the most potent painkillers usable to the medical world, it was also a powerful opiate, and she could get addicted to it. Obviously they hadn't thought she would be able to make it.

Regardless, she was so pumped up with hydromorphonethat she couldn't feel the bloody, broken mass of unrelenting agony that was her body screaming to lie down again. He knee slipped weakly, and she ended up sprawled on the floor with her right hand held up in the air by the IV cord still attached to it. Rouge slowly lifted her head, finally realizing the massiveamount of strain required to move even that far. Her whole body shook, equally from the cold floor, her weak condition, and her fear.

As she had read every injury, she had remembered _exactly _how he had inflicted them upon her. Now she remembered why the darkness scared her. _"Rouge… are you afraid of the dark?"_ His cackles echoed through her mind. She was now… Rouge closed her eyes tightly, trying not to look at the shadows in the room. They all seemed to be glaring back at her. Glaring back at her with wicked, wicked ice-blue eyes.

The clipboard was still in her left hand. She finally let it go, her hand shakily drifting to the left side of her face instead. Since the closest thing to clothing she had was a cheap hospital nightgown, Rouge found her sense of touch unhindered by her gloves as her hand caressed the bone of her face. It was hard and rough, and she felt no pain when she touched it.

Things began to finally come into focus through the cloud her painkillers had inflicted upon her mind. Her right forearm was in a cast. She was covered in bandages. Her left wing had not yet been removed, but was still nothing but bone and ligament. She had a patch over her left eye. And one man… Mor'gul… had done this to her.

Rouge's head rested on the cold linoleum floor, and a few tears slid down her face. _I'll kill him…_ her head began to shake as she clenched her jaw and eyes closed tightly. _I'll kill him._ Her eyes opened once more, and she began to draw ragged breaths from her mouth. _I'll kill him!_ Her head continued to shake, and her hands clenched until her palms were bleeding and her knuckles were white. She screamed inside her mind. _I'll kill him!_ She opened her mouth, and screamed to the world. _I'LL KILL HIM!_

* * *

The rain poured down around the men as they crouched in the grass. There were four of them, though you couldn't tell from their expertly handcrafted gilly suits. A small number, but this not a job for a full-scale military invasion. The four of them were navy SEALS, some of the deadliest commandos the humans had ever produced. This was an infiltration. One of them turned to the others.

"Alright." He whispered. "We are to find and capture or kill the VIP. This job comes directly from the white house. We enter through the foundation of the building. Intel suggests that we can come up right in the entry lobby to his bedroom." He passed around a few papers, laminated against the rain. They were like blueprints, but they were multilayered and showed where certain rooms on different floors overlapped. Holding his copy up, he drew the attention of his team.

"We enter the foundation through here-" He gestured towards a small X on his copy, right on the edge of the building. "After that, we follow the tunnel that Knuckles echidnadug before to here." He gestured once again, this time at a larger X near the right-hand wall of the building. "Here we can dig straight up, right into the bastard's den. We're out before any sort of an alarm can be sound. Everyone, safeties off." The multiple clicks of their respective guns echoed quietly. "We don't know what he might have in there for security, but it sure as hell ain't gonna be human."

The figure turned around, and the four of them stealthily made their way through the grass. Mor'gul's castle loomed over them. As they made their way through the tunnels below it, there was absolute silence.

* * *

Jair sat next to his lord on his right side. Aira sat on Mor'gul's left. The wolf was clad in black armor, as if to match his insides. The three of them sat at a single, simple wooden table, looking at a large map of the coast with the help of a single bright candle. Mor'gul's ever-present smile was highlighted by the dim lighting; the shadows fitting him like a robe and emphasizing his angular features and feral air. His deep voice echoed off of the stone walls as he spoke.

"The coast… obviously our first area of interest. I wish to have at least one coastal city before the King of Death's mainforces arrive. It is certainly do-able, even with just the inhabitants of this room." He waved his hand around the room nonchalantly, quite a few figures bordering the room just out of candlelight. "Then again, a few of you could do it on your own." He chuckled. "I see no need to plan an attack, simply choose a city. Now-" He stopped, ears twitching. Aira looked at him curiously.

"My lord?" Jair repeated her statement after a few more moments of silence. Finally, Mor'gul chuckled.

"Ah, yes… Aira, Jair, would you mind joining the others?" They looked at him curiously, but slowly stood up and walked around, standing just barely within the range of the candlelight. There they stood, for more than ten minutes, Mor'gul just glaring at the floor. Aira rolled her eyes.

_Insane fool…_They stayed like this for fifteen minutes more, and every time they tried to move back towards him, he would hold up his hand. Jair was the obedient kind, but Aira was not. "Look wolf, this is p-" Suddenly, one of the stone tiles right in front of her exploded outwards, sending dust and stone shrapnel everywhere. She fell back, a splintered stone shard embedded in one shoulder. A heavily camouflaged man popped out of the hole, M-16 loaded and pointed dead-center at Mor'gul's skull. A shot echoed, and the bullet dug into the wall. The man looked on in surprise.

_Th-that was a headshot._ Mor'gul's head was tilted ever so slightly to the side, a smile on his face.

"Oh… you missed. Want to try again?"The man disbelievingly began to fire rapidly, emptying his clip. Every shot went in a straight line, but still managed to miss. Mor'gul cracked his neck. "Pity. Guns are so _slow._" Finally standing up, he spread his arms and smiled. "I guess you're here to kill or otherwise render me unable of fighting." The man quickly jumped out of the hole, followed by his three subordinates. "Four on one? That's a little unfair. Fortunately, I'm sporting enough to ignore it. Let's skip all of the formalities and get right to the "fun stuff", shall we?""

The one with no ammo charged him, jabbing the butt of his gun at Mor'gul's face. With a gliding movement, Mor'gul seemed to float right around the gun, smashing his elbow into the man's face. As one of the others tried to shoot him, Mor'gul grabbed the first man by the collar to hold him upright and kicked the other in the stomach. The second man crumpled, blood spewing from his mouth as he held his stomach painfully.

Before anyone else could react, Mor'gulwhirled around the first man, striking his face once againto keep him stunned, and smashed his open palm into the face of the third gunman. With a sick crunch, the man's skull caved under his grip. Once again Mor'gulwhirled around the still standing body of the first man, gripping his jaw for support and stomping very lightly on the second man's throat before he could get up again.

Finally, he turned to the first man once again, the second gurgling in the background, and tore the first man's jaw right out of his face. He gurgled as well, but was abruptly cut off as Mor'gul's index finger shoved through the exposed roof of his mouth. It went in all the way. Mor'gul pulled out his finger, licking blood and brain matter off of it as he returned to the man with the crushed wind pipe. With a quick movement, he slit the man's throat with a claw. Blood spewed across Mor'gul's face as the man's eyes went wide. Eventually, they became empty. Mor'gul stood up slowly.

"And then there was one." He turned back to the one remaining man, who was shaking too profusely to do anything but stand there. Mor'gul's blood-drenched face glistened in the dim light as he smirked. "You want to run, don't you?" The man did not move. "…What's stopping you?" realization dawned on the man, and his M-16 clattered to the floor. He frantically looked around, and a few shadowy figures parted to reveal a door. He burst through it, outside already. He could hear the wolf laughing out to him. _"Go on, run! Hah! Blood runs out of you faster when you've been exercising!"_

Back in the room, Mor'gul went loping after the figure of the man. He jumped out of the door quickly and took off a deliberately slow place. As he gained speed, he began to appear more canine. His eyes grew wild and his form hunched. Eventually, he was on all fours. He disappeared from sight as he crested a hill that the man had disappeared behind. One of the figures spoke with a young male voice.

"What exactly is Lord Mor'gul doing?" Aira half smiled, pulling the stone out of her shoulder.

"He's hunting. Just like a wolf." She turned away. She could literally see him in her mind, closing the distance at an excruciatingly slow speed, the poor man able to hear his heavy, ominous breathing… "Mor'gul is one whose bloodlust is insatiable. He is perfect for our cause. He is loyal to the dark ones, do not worry. He is simply… hungry." The young voice echoed back at her.

"We trust you to keep your eyes on him. He is not truly as devoted as us to the Greater Demon, regardless of his station." Aira nodded.

"Yes. I have kept you informed on him for years now, why the sudden worry?" The young voiced form nodded after hearing her statement.

"No reason, just… stay the course, Aira."

In the forest, Mor'gul was crouched over his dead prey. He tore from it with his teeth, all etiquette gone. He raised his bloody muzzle to the air, his ears twitching. "Well… I guess my meal shall have to be interrupted." The wolf stood up slowly, wiping blood from his face onto his sleeve. The wildness was gone in his eyes.

"My bloodlust is held at bay… One can only hope my sanity holds." He chuckled. "What sanity? Here I stand, talking to myself over a bloody corpse. No sense lying to yourself; you, Mor'gul, are entirely insane." He smiled, walking away from the dead man, whose face was twisted in agony. He had been alive until a few seconds earlier, when Mor'gul finally had gotten past his skin to the vitals. Mor'gul lightly stroked the hilt of the blade at his side. "Oh… I'm sorry Mordreth, I completely forgot."

He unsheathed the red sword, which ringed as he flicked it. "Wake up… I've prepared a meal for you." The madman stabbed the sword into the corpse, walking away. "Enjoy yourself."

The sword sat in the flesh of the corpse for a few moments, ringing emptily from the force in which it was stabbed into the cadaver. Suddenly, the sword began to vibrate on its own accord as Mordreth "awoke". It began to glow with a demonic aura. The vibrating increased, and the blade began to grow hot. The flesh around the sword began to smoke, and a high, metallic screech echoed through the air.

The man's face rapidly degraded in age, until his skin literally began to be sucked inside the body. Within moments, the devious weapon had reduced the body to a skeleton, all life and flesh somehow sucked in on itself by the blade. Finally, a bright, white light began to diffuse itself from the skeleton. It hovered in the air for a moment, before being pulled quickly to the sword like lead powder to a magnet. In a bright flash of light, the sword emitted a scorching wave of heat. The entire area in a ten foot radius was charred beyond recognition, including the skeleton.

The white light was gone, and the sword simply stood upright in the ground, smoking ever so slightly. There was no sign that this crimson sword had just eaten the body and soul of the poor man whose skeleton it stood within.

* * *

Kay. First off, Morphine is a middle grade opiate painkiller. Hydromorphone is a high grade opiate painkiller purified from Morphine to be stronger than just "morphine". Carisoprodol is a muscle relaxant, and in my story was prescribed because the most common and dangerous symptoms of hydromorphone are muscle cramping, constipation(occasionally muscle-based), and muscle siezures. All of these can of course be cured by a muscle relaxant. There.

Okay, medical term stuff. incisions, for the record, are cuts from sharpness. Lacerations are cuts from blunt trauma. A spiral fracture is where you... well, let me put it this way. You break a pencil in half, the pencil can be taped together and held together by the splinters, right? Well, lets say you twist that pencil until it completely shatters at the pressure point where it was going to break. you can't tape that together, because the pencil has literally been shattered by a twisting motion. That is a spiral fracture. The Ulna is one of the two bones in your forearm that holds your arm together. (it and the other one are fused together, so I have no idea who Mor'gul spiral fractured only one, and I do **_not_ **want to.) Your Scapula are your shoulder blades. your phalanges are the bones in your fingers and toes. your Cranium and mandible are obvious, but just in case, they're your skull and jaw. Cauterization is the act of closing a wound by burning the tissue into scar tissue. Mor'gul did this to keep her infected wounds from being treated properly so she would develop a fever and become delirious.

Also, Burns are like this- grade 3; cracked, blackened, dead skin. Skin is damaged to the very core. Hurts hellah.

grade 2- redness and boils. Skin only hurt down two of the three levels. hurts a lot.

grade 1- sunburn. just the top of the skin is damaged. hurts a little.

* * *


	26. The Black Ether

_

* * *

_

Skaar;

Well, it's ten pages, but I haven't updated in forever, so... Here you go, I guess. 

_

* * *

_

_Recap;_ The white light was gone, and the sword simply stood upright in the ground, smoking ever so slightly. There was no sign that this crimson sword had just eaten the body and soul of the poor man whose skeleton it stood within.

* * *

Silver leaned on the building that towered over him, watching humans and anthropomorphics of varying species move through the crowd. His universe was one in which the freedom fighters were long dead, and many of the anthropomorphic animals that once traversed Earth were starting to once again evolve from the animals they originally were. A thousand years ago, you would have been lucky to see even an echidna, the original superpowers of the planet. Now humans were making their path through evolution, and the anthropomorphics that had once done so were following suit; some starting off right where the humans were, some not. Regardless, it made Silver feel glad to watch the crowd. Time way have been altered, but Silver still remembered how it was before. He was one of the few who did. It had something to do with his time travel… He was like an anomaly now. It was as if since he had at one point passed through a dimensional rift, he was not tied to his old slot in fate anymore. All of the other survivors of Ibliss's reign, people that he wouldn't have met if Ibliss hadn't forced them to hide, they had no memory of him. Nor Ibliss, for that matter. Only other people who had at some point passed through time before the Ibliss situation was resolved would be able to remember, and that was limited to two people. Silver, and Blaze.

Blaze was leaning next to him, watching the crowd with him. They had been the only ones sent back to Sonic's time by Mephiles, and if Sonic hadn't gone back and destroyed Ibliss's eternal flame with the princess of Soleanna, Elise, Blaze would be locked away in an alternate dimension and the world would just barely have started to recover from Ibliss's "Flames of Disaster". She was his only real friend, before and after everyone forgot about him. He smiled a little thinking about her. He was a little unsure about how he felt about her, but he knew that he could always count on her as a friend. He had always been a little unsure, but she always knew the direction to point him in.

Since the Sol emeralds were now under government control, much to Blaze's chagrin, her and Silver spent a lot of time watching the crowds like this. She could understand why they wanted to keep them under lock and key with their destructive ability, but the only reason that she had put up with it was remembering that during her stays in the past, the Chaos emeralds had had a tendency to get… lost. They probably still were. Even so, she checked on them daily and made sure that NO ONE in any way tried to use them. Few people could, but she wasn't going to take the chance. The emeralds were locked in a maximum security bunker on the outskirts of town, inside of a military base and constantly patrolled. It was safe from intruders, but there's always that chance of being wrong.

Just as he finished this thought, she perked up ever so slightly. He turned his gaze towards her curiously, and her yellow eyes widened.

"Fire…" Silver pushed off of the wall slowly, standing up.

"What was that, Blaze?" Blaze stood upright as well.

"The Sol emeralds. There is a presence there. One of fire." Silver's first thoughts drifted to Ibliss, and he unconsciously uttered the monster's name. Blaze shook her head. "That's impossible. Even so, this feels familiar. It is just like Ibliss, but… But it feels… dark. A corrupt, dark flame." Silver thought for a moment, scratching his head, before freezing in realization.

"Dark, corrupt flame… Similar to Ibliss…" Blaze looked at him, a bit of fear in her eyes.

"It's not possible…" Silver turned towards the base, his body glowing green as he floated up into the air. Blaze began to hover in a similar fashion, fire sparking outwards all over her body to propel her upwards. As they rose higher, the buildings obstructed less and less of their view. There were thin trails of smoke in the sky. Without waiting to get high enough to see more, the two of them shot off. They wove through the towering buildings, anxious to get to their destination. Silver increased speed in a vain attempt to keep up with Blaze, who was travelling much faster.

_It's impossible… Ibliss is dead. So is Mephalis… but what if it is… Solaris?_

* * *

Blaze landed on the asphalt right outside of the main complex. There was no one to be seen. _What happened here?_ She took a few steps forward. _I have to be missing something…_ She heard the click of Silver's boots as he fell behind her. "The base is deserted." Silver looked up, following the smoke trail to the ground.

"The smoke is coming from the southwest portion of the base." Blaze turned to him and nodded. A short jog later, they found themselves at what looked like a meteor strike. There was a long trail of hot, bubbling asphalt leading into the very bunker in which the Sol emeralds were stored. That asphalt was obviously from the asphalt ground, but the trail seemed to curve too much to actually be a crater. It was also far too shallow. Where it ended at the bunker, there was a large hole in the side of it. The concrete that the walls were made out of was blown away and scorched, and the steel roofing was curled up like burning paper.

"Something…" Silver turned to Blaze at the sound of her voice. "Something came through that was giving off impossible amounts of heat for anything normal." She took a step into the bunker hesitantly, making sure to avoid the trail left by the aggressor. "I doubt that I could give off this much heat, unless it was concentrated. Whatever this was... just exuded it from their body. And it did all of this." Silver stepped over the burnt concrete, following her.

"Blaze… the "tainted" fire you felt before… could it be-" Blaze quickly held up a hand, silencing him.

"Don't say that. It's impossible…" He could see looking at her, that she was terrified of the possibility. "It has to be… Solaris is bigger than this, isn't it? Besides, we've already gone over this. It's dead." Silver looked at the interior walls nervously. They were blackened from the intense heat in the room. Whatever it was had left some of that heat apparently, because it was stifling in there.

"Blaze… why are you referring to it in present tense?" Blaze's eyes widened, and she shook her head.

"You're right, Silver. I'm simply being impulsive… If it has returned…" Silver held up his own hand, silencing her this time.

"No. It's dead. I will not watch this reality degrade into ruin again!" Blaze looked down the long expanse of the room, his eyes following the trail as it led deeper underground.

"Well, it doesn't have the emeralds yet, whatever it is. Let's not jump to conclusions…" She began to follow the blackened area of floor hesitantly, making sure not to touch it as if it were cursed.

As the trail led deeper in, there were bodies strewn about it. A few were simply vaporized by heat, leaving only blackened skeletons, but most were killed in rather… interesting ways. This aggressor killed for fun. A few were severed in half as if by a laser, their separation wounds cauterized. Many had one small hole right in the center of their forehead, perfectly circular with similar cauterized damage areas. There was the occasional sign of resistance, mostly apparent in tiny hardened pools of iron and steel on the ground. The heat had melted the bullets and the shells they came in, leaving puddles to harden at a later time. They followed this trail for only fifteen minutes, the air getting progressively hotter and hotter. Blaze didn't seem to notice, but it was killing Silver. Finally, when Silver was drenched in sweat and almost couldn't breathe, they came to a very long hallway. Silver couldn't help but gape at the size of the base's underground level.

_This is very misleading from the surface…_ He wiped more sweat out of his face, and caught up to Blaze slowly. "Blaze… why'd you stop…?" Blaze turned to him and opened her mouth, but stopped when she saw his pitiful state.

"Silver, you should have said something." With a wave of her hand, the air around him began to waver as well. It seemed to become cooler. Silver sighed a little in relief.

"I didn't know you could do anything about it… What was that?" Blaze turned her head back to the end of the hall.

"I pulled the heat out of the air around you and concentrated it somewhere else. That's aside from the point. Look!" Silver stepped up to her and looked past her to the end of the hall. There were two rather generic looking guards standing at the end of it, talking to a small figure. They even looked similar, their defining difference being a pair of sunglasses that the one on the left wore. Blaze and Silver began to move again, moving closer to the forms.

As they grew closer, it became apparent just how short this figure was. It was only about a foot and half tall, not including a few spikes on its head. It also had no legs, and hovered in place. Even with legs it would only about as high off of the ground as it was without them. It was dark blue and had ball shaped hands with no fingers. Its head was very disproportionate to its body and had four spikes. One was sticking directly out of the back of its head, curving up slowly until it made a point. Two others sticking out of the back of his head at an angle, imitating the center spike and growing gradually upwards. One final spike near the base of its skull grew outwards, stretching past the other three spikes before curving upwards and stopping half a foot higher than the rest. The tips of all of the spikes were dark maroon.

A small ball of flame hovered above the longest and tallest spike, no larger than the pupil of Blaze's eye. The flame though, was odd. It was wrong. Blaze could sense with relief now that she was much closer that this was _**not**_ Solaris in any way, but the look of the flame was off. It was like any other flame, with a bright color and darker undertones near the base, but this flame was… There was no way to describe it. It was black, but white at the exact same time. It confused her to no end. Even so, she could recognize that tiny, adorable form.

"It's a… a chao!" She could see a bit of its face as well. It was fairly normal for a chao, with no nose and a small mouth, but it's eyes looked like the fireball above its head. The pupils were black, as usual, but it had black where its whites should be and white irises. It made the chao look rather wild, with big hollow circles of white in those black eyes. She looked on in confusion at this evil clone of the adorable species she had learned about with Cream and Vanilla. Silver looked at her with a look similar to her own.

"A chao? Those things that Eggman Nega was trying to feed to Ifrit?" She shook her head quickly.

"I guess so- we need to get closer." They finally stopped about ten seconds later, still unnoticed by the guards, who had to look down pretty steeply to see the tiny form below them. The heat seemed to end with the chao, because the guards were completely unaffected and probably completely unaware as to how hot the room was behind the cute little monstrosity. The guard's voices echoed through the room, finally within hearing range.

"You expect us to just let you in to the emeralds? What, just because you come walking down here with some sort of special clearance, we're going to let you in to the most important area of the entire base?" The guard barked a laugh, and Silver turned around confusedly. From this section of the hallway, you apparently couldn't see where the small figure had torn through the bunker on a beeline to the emeralds. Also, he finally noticed that the trail had stopped and the walls were un-burnt. The heat was stifling, but not enough to peel paint. So if there were no signs of a struggle to the guards, it was obvious that this small figure had special clearance because- well, to get this far into the base without tearing it apart required special clearance.

The small head nodded, and a strange voice completely unfitting the small form echoed through the air. "I do. I've seen _worms_ more threatening than you, and I'm not going to waste my time on vermin." The voice was a little high pitched but certainly male, and had kind of a deep, resounding undertone that that you couldn't hear so much as _feel_. When he spoke, there was a deep, ungodly rumble behind that cute little voice of his. It was like he was trying to talk over the sound of a roaring fire. The guards took offense at the little chao's statement, and readied their weapons.

"You squeaky little bastard!" The chao did not move as the humans pointed their now un-holstered pistols at him. The guard with the glasses, who had not yet spoken, smirked and switched off the safety on his 9mm.

"What's a cute little fella like you gonna do anyway? It's common knowledge that chao are too weak and innocent for combat. Short stuff, all you're gonna do is turn around and walk away. If you want these jewels, get a security card." The chao twitched ever so slightly every time his size came up, obviously annoyed.

"Hah. Have you ever heard of a chao speaking fluent English, either?" One by one, a little fire ball burst into existence over his other three spikes, each one just as peculiar as the first. The chao raised his tiny hand, pointing a fingerless chao fist at the guard with glasses. "I was _explicitly_ instructed to give the last of the guards a chance to escape and warn the government of my presence, but you just _won't _cooperate." The guard with sunglasses smiled and aimed for the chao's head. He apparently was a rather bloodthirsty fellow.

Suddenly, with a flourish of the wrist, the chao's hand was pointed at the other guard. There was a very tiny flash of white light right in front of the guard's face, and he was thrown back. He smashed into the door heavily, a single, perfectly circular hole on his forehead. The other guard gaped at the area between the chao and the body as if he had seen a ghost. Then, with a cackling laugh, the small figure rose into the air. The guard, upon noticing this, screamed in fear inexplicably and fell back, his gun clattering to the floor. Silver and Blaze watched on in surprise at the guard's cowardice.

_It's only a chao… why didn't he shoot it? _The guard's hand shakily raised to his temple, pressing the voice transmission button on his helmet.

"Control… Th-there is…" The chao smiled and chuckled darkly. The guards eyes widened as if he were seeing the most horrible thing he had ever seen, and began to yell into his transmitter. "Control, there is an intruder in the Sol emeralds chamber! The Sol emerald chamber! It's-" The guard's hands abruptly flew to his legs, and he began to wail in agony as his pants began to blacken and peel away at the knees. The chao spread its arms, closing its eyes and lifting its head as a smile once again creased its face. There was a rumble, and the entire hallway began to turn black. Paint began to peel off of the walls. An old oil painting that was hung for decoration began to bubble as the canvas began to wither away. The chao cackled madly, enjoying every minute of the agony he was inflicting. Silver thanked the gods that he had a protective shield. No flames sprung up anywhere. Blaze looked around the room, perplexed.

_What is this magic that burns everything it touches, but holds no fire?_ Back with the guard, his hand moved to his face and tried to cover it as boils began to spring up all around his body. His glasses were knocked away as his hands raised, the dark plastic and glass clattering to the floor. He looked up at the chao confusedly upon the loss of his glasses, as if he had been having an agonizing nightmare. His eyes no longer held fear, only confusion. "What…?" The chao snorted, and held one fist back as if pulling back a punch.

"Well, a pity you won't see your end coming." He floated closer to the human, stopping right before his chest. "Charon. Keep that name with you in the afterlife, may you wish to seek revenge." Charon swung his hand as if he were throwing a softball underhanded, and the guard let out an agonizing shriek as his flesh was rapidly burnt away from the feet up. With a smirk, Charon floated down to his previous height and approached the large steel vault door behind the guard's corpses. Silver covertly willed the glasses on the floor to skitter to him, picking them up carefully in case they were hot. They weren't.

_What in the world made that guard so hysterical about the chao raising its altitude?_ He slipped the glasses on, and saw nothing. Just the chao and the two corpses. The chao raised one hand to the vault door.

"To ash." Suddenly, strange unearthly fire just like the fire that floated above his head at the moment began to trickle out of Charon's hand. It started to build in front of him, and everything Silver could see through the flames was like a photo negative. Colors were all reversed, and everything wavered. Suddenly, the flames surged forward and tore through the thick steel door, leaving it's torn edges white hot and dripping molten titanium. Silver jumped back with a start.

"Blaze, d-did you see that?!?" She turned to him quickly, putting a hand on his mouth.

"Shhh! Why are you yell- wait, see what?" Silver looked back at the chao quickly, in time to see the chao turning slowly towards them at the sound of his voice.

_Crap…_ He knew that he would be useless here. How can you telepathically throw fire back at its user, if fire had no mass to trap in psychokinetic energy? He quickly took off the glasses and gave them to Blaze. "Put these on! You can't see the fire if you look at him directly!" Blaze put the glasses on slowly, turning to the chao without quite noticing that it was facing her.

"Silver, I don't see-" Suddenly her eyes widened and she jumped to the side. The floor that she had previously stood on was suddenly scarred by a trail much like the one that they had followed in. Silver summoned a small amount of his energy, using it to make a green transparent shield in front of his eyes. The trail that had just appeared was now wreathed in photo negative-esque flames. The devious chao glared.

"Good… I should have expected better from the guardians of this realm though." The tiny form stepped into the room holding the Sol emeralds. "Come now, Blaze… Let's see if your fire can dance with the Black Ether." Blaze didn't wait to ask how he knew them, simply dove into the room after Charon with Silver on her tail. She was instantly met by a blast of dark flame, which curled off of her like all fire did.

"You can't hurt me, little one. I am immune to fire!" She swung a foot at the tiny figure. Slowly, it raised one hand to block her strike, the little figure yawning. Suddenly, an arc of intensely concentrated black fire erupted from the little chao's hand, literally stopping her blow it its place like a shield or sword. Fire began to roll out of his body, the corner of his eyes lighting aflame. It began to spread throughout the room, lighting the entire battlefield aflame with photogenic light. The chao once more took off to the air, black inferno rolling out of his shoulders and refining into giant black and white wings of pure demonic light. All over his body, that black fire danced about. It grew into long claws on his tiny hands. Spikes of black flame began to form over his body. His legless torso took on a snakelike tail of flame, like a whip. He opened his mouth, and smoke began to pour out of corners. With an angry smirk, Charon held up one hand and spewed forth a massive trail of fire from his mouth, like a flamethrower from hell.

Blaze's eyes widened in surprise at the little figure's new appearance, but reacted in time to shield her eyes from the flame. It rolled off of her, as before. "Do you have a point to this display, little one?" The chao glared at her, infuriated by her mockery.

"That was not for you!" Behind her, the flames of the last attack still lingered. Silver stared at them curiously after that statement. Suddenly, the seemed to back up in on themselves. He almost took a step closer at the strange behavior. With a surge, the flame suddenly folded outwards towards him, arcing forward. He tried to move, but was captivated by the fire in a way. It looked like… a dragon. With black, fiery maws and demonic talons, it tore through him like he was paper. He had managed to move out of the way just enough to not acquire any fatal wounds, but it sideswiped him with such force that he was thrown into the wall behind him. He spat blood as he slowly slid to the ground, cracks slowly spreading across the wall. Blaze held out a hand to him, and had to stop herself from running to him in the midst of a battle.

"Silver!" He held himself off of the ground weakly with one hand, the other clutching a cauterized gash on his side. It did not bleed because of the cauterization, but it hurt more than any injury he had ever sustained.

_Is this what… burning alive feels like?_ He shivered with pain, which caused him to cry out in pain once again. Charon sneered at Blaze.

"Well, kitten? Where's your retaliation?" With a hiss, she turned back to Charon.

"You _will_ pay for that, little one!" She shot through the air towards him, spinning rapidly as fire began to arc around her. At the last moment it concentrated around her foot, and she swung her leg at his skull. Charon pulled back to dodge, but she was too quick. A massive explosion engulfed the little form as Blaze's full destructive force was released. Silver couldn't help but smirk, seeing Blaze angry. She was always short tempered, as level headed as she tried to be. Besides, he knew what normal fire could do, and he almost felt sorry for the little chao.

"How _**stupid**_ are you?!?" Blaze's eyes widened, and the smoke and flames faded to show a smoking Charon, one hand up to block the kick. "Did you really think fire as weak as yours would stand up to the heir to the Black Ether?" Blaze recoiled quickly, skidding across the ground.

"What in the world is Black Ether?" Charon sighed.

"I'm not going to waste my time explaining things to you, _little girl_, but I will give you an idea. You manipulate pure flame like Ibliss. The Purifying Flames of Destruction, if you will." He chuckled at the look on her face when he brought up her connection to Ibliss. "Your fire is made to cleanse evil and protect the sanctity of life, although it is not used in this fashion by your godlike counterpart. I am the Black Ether, your Achilles Heel." He flew down to her, and she tried to strike him with a fiery palm, but it was deflected easily. "I am your spiritual nemesis, princess." The chao struck her in the stomach with surprising force, dropping her to her knees. "We don't have to be defined as enemies just because we are the good and evil side of the same force, technically. There is no prophesy, no thread of fate that says that we need to waste our lives trying to prove that the other half is the weaker like some "evil twin" cliché. But…" the tiny form snarled, a curl of black flame lifting up Blaze's head as she gasped for breath. "I want to kill you all the same."

Charon slowly floated back, approaching the area of the floor that the Sol emeralds' pedestal was supposed to be. His black and white eyes searched the floor for a moment, and suddenly the steel floor bent upwards like a giant bubble forming on the surface of water. It glowed red, and then the bubble exploded in a massive tower of Black Ether and boiling metal. Slowly, the Sol emeralds drifted out of the hole, circling him. Blaze staggered to her feet.

"No, you won't take them!" She dove for the floating chao one last time, and was met midair. She struck at him, but his small form was too hard to target, and he quickly caught her by the front of her collar. The little, harmless looking chao leaned in close to her face as he lifted her higher.

"I'm not just "a chao", little girl." Silver twitched.

_He knew we were there back then?_

"I am the Black Ether, lord over all true Dark chao in the universe. And I will prove to you that even though I am a "mere" chao, I am one to be feared!!!" Black Ether began to arc across his arm as he pulled it back. Blaze smirked at him.

"We're both immune to fire, little one. What's the point in trying?" Charon smirked evilly, and The Black Ether that arched around his arm finally shot out, like a ray of pure blackness. Even though it was blacker than night, it burned Silver's eyes like the sun. It could only be described as staring into an eclipse. It no longer had the form of flame, but was so refined that it was like a spear of pure fire. It tore a hole through Blaze's cape, bursting out the other side. Her eyes widened as it pierced a hole right through her. What was left of the beam careened into the nearest wall, shaking the very military base to its core as the destructive force of a volcano was inflicted upon this single wall, leaving a massive crater. The force being unleashed so deep underground began a seismic reaction and the earth began to shake. As the underground bunker crumbled around them, Blaze slid to the floor, weakly fingering a gaping, cauterized wound in her gut.

Charon cackled, floating down to her and letting his fiery form fade. The balls of flame above his spikes extinguished to one once more. "Even beings of pure flame fall to the fire that burns all life." He hovered back about a step, holding up one hand and smirking. "Well, bitch, if you want to know how I know so much about you and how I know about the Sol emeralds, I suggest you try to get them back from me." The Sol Emeralds finally stopped circling him, pulling in towards his body before finally disappearing as he dismissed them. "Your friends in the past have need of you two. If you wish to save this world and get back your emeralds in the process, return to their time and help them. Look for a wolf named Mor'gul. I will be staying with him as a guest." With a devious smile, fire erupted from Charon's hand and formed a gateway behind him. He floated backwards into it, smiling. Just before he disappeared, he called out to Blaze once again.

"I will see you again, bitch!"

* * *

Within the confines of Mor'gul's castle, Mor'gul sat once again with the shadowy company from the meeting the night before. The young voice from that night was revealed to belong to a young marten, only thirteen years of age at most. The small figure now sat across from Mor'gul. The marten was wearing thick monk's robes, and was only identifiable as a marten by what you could see of his boyish face. Now, the wolf and the marten simply glared at each other, neither speaking. Mor'gul cocked his head ever so slightly to the side, and the marten sighed.

"Mor'gul, you are too defiant for this campaign. We-"

"Am I to believe…" Mor'gul cut in, his tone slow and calm. "That you are to turn your back on me, after I have brought you this far?" He leaned calmly on one hand, sitting back in his chair and crossing one leg loosely over the other. "I thought we had made such progress under my command." The marten child sighed.

"Mor'gul, you are in command of us, but only as long as we deem necessary. If you outlive your purpose, Mor'gul, you will no longer be the Ninth Lord." Mor'gul sighed this time.

"Ah, yes… the Nine. Tell me… what makes you think that I need a _council_ to tear down this world?"

"You are strong Mor'gul, and smart. But we are smarter. Strength is your gift to the cause, not loyalty. And as strong as you are, the combined power of the council can crush you like a rat." Mor'gul did not back down from this statement, he did not even move. Eventually however, he sighed.

"What was it that the council wished of me?" The young marten sat back in his seat, smiling.

"That is right, Mor'gul. Be defiant all you want, but we still hold the leash that pulls you around, mutt." Mor'gul glared at the marten quietly.

"We wish you to expand. Tomorrow. You are simply sitting here, mocking us with your procrastinating, and we will not have it." The marten went to say more when suddenly the floor directly to the left of his chair collapsed. He stood up quickly as the floor became stairs, leading down into the darkness. A mere ten steps down, two pillars suddenly rose out of the ground, skulls with ethereal flames in the eyes sitting at the tops. The darkness swirled and swirled until it suddenly solidified. Slowly, three small forms began to step out of the portal. The marten turned to Mor'gul.

"What foolish trick is this, Mor'gul?" Mor'gul stood from his seat, smiling and taking a place at the top of the stairs. He turned to the marten and waggled his finger at the young boy, as if to say; "now now, don't be rude…" Which left the marten fuming. Mor'gul opened his arms in welcome, and called down the stairs.

"You are welcome here, lord Charon." The small chao appeared in the light, followed by a red dark chao with brown spikes growing out of its body and a plain gray neutral chao, which had no pupils and gray irises. It stared emptily around the room, and its dead gaze unnerved even the marten. Charon smiled and held a hand out to Mor'gul, who shook it happily although his hand encased the chao's easily.

"Hello, Mor'gul. Meet my guards, Garna-" he gestured towards the red and brown dark chao, which grunted in mild disregard. "-and Anubis." The then gestured towards the gray chao, which quickly turned to Charon at the sound of his name being said, but seemed to not notice Mor'gul at all. Mor'gul chuckled and released Charon's hand.

"It pleases me to see you, old friend. Have you…?" He simply cut off, but the chao nodded and the Sol emeralds floated out from his person.

"With this gift of the seven Sol emeralds-" Stating the names of the emeralds sent a ripple of noises from the indistinguishable crowd. "To Mor'gul, the Legion of the Black Ether pledges their allegiance to the Ninth Lord of Hell, and the Greater Demon!" A mummer went through the crowd once again, and the young marten boy gaped emptily at Mor'gul. Mor'gul smiled at his reaction before chuckling.

"Excellent."

* * *

_Skaar;_ there you go. For the record, A Marten is a type of rodent.


	27. Preference

Well, may I just say that this chapter is a rancid pile of excement. I've not updated in forever, then this?!? It's saddening. It was supposed to be like five pages longer too. But it wasn't, and I am sorry.

Oh, and since I haven't done disclaimers for these people, Koŕak and Charon are mine, Silver and Blaze are Sega's.

_

* * *

_

_Recap;_ "With this gift of the seven Sol emeralds-" Stating the names of the emeralds sent a ripple of noises from the indistinguishable crowd. "To Mor'gul, the Legion of the Black Ether pledges their allegiance to the Ninth Lord of Hell, and the Greater Demon!" A murmur went through the crowd once again, and the young marten boy gaped emptily at Mor'gul. Mor'gul smiled at his reaction before chuckling.

"Excellent."

* * *

A lone figure stood atop one of the many rolling hills of what was once known as Mission Island, the tall grass and wheat stalks hiding everything below his waist. Mor'gul reached down to one of these wheat stalks, pulling the wheat seeds off by sliding the stalk between his fingers. He raised the handful of wheat to his muzzle, breathing in the smell deeply. Only the nose of a canine could sense the wonderful smell of fresh wheat in its full glory, reminiscent of the earth. Mor'gul's eyes were closed, and the wind rippling through the field echoed through his ears. He could hear every shuffle of the wheat as the wind lightly pushed a stalk into the stalk next to it. A quiet smile graced his face as the first rays of sun warmed his fur, setting the horizon aflame and bathing the land in a golden glow. He let the wind carry away the wheat in his hand, and raised his arms slowly as if to catch the light of the rising sun. It was a beautiful scene, the serene wolf letting the sun's glow silhouette his features.

"Running a little late, mutt?" Mor'gul's eyes snapped open at the sound of the brazen, rocky voice behind him. As they did so, the beauty of the scene seemed to fade into the sheer evil and hatred that emanated from Mor'gul's eyes. His arms slowly fell to his side, but he did not turn around to face the source of the voice.

"The same could be said of you." Mor'gul said, his deep voice showing no sign of the contempt for life that his eyes generally held. "Should your attack not have begun an hour past, before the rise of the sun? Or could you have been afraid to face these weak creatures that have taken our place on this world?"

"Ha! Fear the humans? A worm has no reason to do so!" The hard voice resounded. "I was told that as my supposed "superior", you were to give the order an hour ago. When you didn't, I came out here and found you standing there like a vulture warming itself in the sun." Mor'gul's neck twisted about, and he eyed the giver of the rude comments behind him. It was a mountain ram, easily the size of Jair. His armor was gray, and was trimmed in dark purple. A pseudo-helmet sat atop his head, no more than a few strips of metal formed to cover the back of his neck, the top of his head, and his funnel shaped horns, which stuck out of his head horizontally about a foot out. Mor'gul clicked his fangs together quietly to show his irritation.

"…It is true that I am only your superior for the purposes of this particular campaign, but it would do you well to remember that as the Ninth Lord, I am the highest of the four Lords of Destruction. You are the lowest. Do not tempt a fight with me." The ram laughed at his words.

"_Really_?" The ram's voice resounded. "We both know that _I_ would be the ninth lord if you were not more tactically inclined than I. Your position will be put back down to me after your conquest, and I will take your place." The ram laughed. "If not I, than one of the other lords of destruction. I'm happy either way, as long as you are left to rot!" Mor'gul sighed, finally turning around.

"Well, until that time you are my subordinate by order of the Nine lords. As are the other two Lords of Destruction. And as such, you will heed by what I say_._" Mor'gul stated, the ram returning the statement with an angry sneer.

"Oh, and what do you _command_ of me, O great one?" Mor'gul chose to ignore the blatant sarcasm in the ram's voice.

_His time will come._ "The council of Lords has specifically elected you to make the first assault, as you well know being a Lord yourself. So obviously, all that your orders are is to "assault"." Mor'gul stared at the ram for a few moments, as the ram seemed to show no signs of moving. "_…Well?"_ The idiotic ram blinked for a few moments before realization struck. In order to defend his integrity, he made a vain attempt to make it appear that he had been contemplating Mor'gul's statement.

"What about you, hm? Are you just going to sit on the sidelines while I do all of the dirty work?" Mor'gul sighed again at the sound of the ram's supposed complaining.

"I have been ordered- with much _emphasis_- that you are to begin the assault, and I will only be allowed to enter combat if the situation requires it." The ram smiled.

"Well, I guess that means I get all the credit for crushing Station Square then!" Mor'gul smiled as well, but for a completely unrelated reason.

"Indeed… Enjoy yourself, Koŕak."

* * *

Shadow sat in a pale blue plastic chair with a metal frame, commonly seen in waiting rooms where you can be expected to be sitting for a long, long time. This one was situated in a hallway, which was disturbingly white and clean other than a weak yellow tint on the walls, probably from smokers who had needed to "light up" to calm their nerves and had been too inconsiderate to follow hospital rules. That stuff doesn't come off. The only doors were two doors on the opposing sides of the hall. It was one of those hallways that separated sections of the hospital. Yes, this hallway was a waiting room in a hospital, the kind you see the concerned father pacing while his significant other gives birth to their first child in the movies. Unlike those distraught paternal figures, however, Shadow had no need to pace. Rouge had woken up the night before for the first time, and although she had apparently gone a little off the rail, she was recovering very well. Shadow, who was too stoic and logical for his own good, saw no need to show concern. Her outburst was understandable too, of course. After her ordeal, Shadow wouldn't be surprised if she had been put on suicide watch just as a precaution. She was emotionally stronger than most men or women, but her looks had always been one of the largest pillars holding up her self esteem.

A female doctor came out of the double doors to the left of him, studiously scrutinizing a clipboard. She passed Shadow on her way down the hall, making it all the way to the other door before realizing the black hedgehog was there.

"Oh, are you here to see that GUN woman? What was her name…" She flipped through a few pages on her keyboard, looking for the appropriate medical chart. "…Rouge?" Shadow nodded, and the woman corrected her clipboard before walking back across the hall to him. "She is not in very good shape, but she's awake and has requested us to allow visitors. There is a young fox in with her now. Would you like to go in as well, or wait until her other guest leaves?" Shadow easily identified the fox as Tails, since he knew of no other young fox in the area. Or the planet, for that matter. Shadow chose not to respond to the doctor, and simply stepped past her towards the door.

The doors opened with a resounding creak, causing the yellow-orange fox to turn around. As Shadow stepped into the room, they regarded each other with a calm nod. Shadow looked at Tails for only a moment, before refocusing his attention to Rouge.

Her face was sunken and devoid of its usual makeup, not to mention that she had covered the left side of her face with surgical tape. One arm was in a cast, and her good arm was heavily scarred. Although Shadow could not see her legs because of the blanket limply gathered around her waist, he remembered that they looked no better. Her hospital gown was made for a human, so obviously did not quite fit the curious dimensions of a Mobian. Because of this her shoulders were exposed slightly, and he could see a circular scar on each, surrounded by second degree burns from the constant stream of hot wax that had poured from the candles previously occupying that spot. Gauze wrap was also wrapped around her head, to hide her almost nonexistent ear. A tattered wing poked out in an almost cautious fashion from her right side, her left wing completely hidden by her back. Of course, in its state Shadow could imagine that Rouge would not want anyone to see it. All of this only emphasized one fact; that little twinkle in her eyes, that little smile of hers that defined her as the quintessential Rouge were gone. The Rouge he knew was not there anymore, and who knew how long it would be before she was back.

_Mor'gul knew exactly what would break her spirit._ He sat down slowly, across from Tails. Rouge smiled at him halfheartedly, but it quickly faded.

"I thought you'd come, Shadow…" Shadow nodded.

"Well, we are teammates." He said. "Omega would be here too, but GUN's keeping him busy." She nodded quietly.

"I understand… GUN needs people like him right now. People who can't feel pain, or fear." Shadow nodded, knowing full well that she was remembering her ordeal particularly clearly at that moment. Rouge was staring at her lap nervously, wringing her hands unconsciously. She stared at them for a few moments, thinking about the cuts that arced across her palms and fingers. She had been bruised up before, but nothing like this.

"Um…" Tails broke the awkward silence. "Rouge was just telling me about the food here?" His sentence slowly degraded into a question, unsure about what the previous subject had been. Rouge nodded.

"Yes, but I doubt that's why Shadow's here." She looked at Shadow. "You probably need help, don't you? Information about…" She looked away slowly. "…Him." Shadow nodded.

"Mor'gul has told us that he is going to start targeting other members of Sonicteam." Shadow called the yellow chaos emerald to himself, making it appear in his hand. "I found this with you. He told us that he would leave a clue with you. Did he give you anything, or could this chaos emerald be it?" Rouge shook her head weakly.

"N-no…" Her hand floated up to her head, and her eyes were slowly glazing over. "He didn't tell me anything about a "clue". That has to be it…" Tails put a comforting hand on her cast.

"Are you getting tired?" The words no sooner left the fox's mouth when Rouge slumped back against her pillow. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I can't fall asleep yet…" Her good hand grasped at Shadow's arm, and her eyes opened. "Shadow, I have to tell you something." He removed her weak grip and stood up.

"Tell me when you have the strength to, Rouge." He turned to walk away, but she caught his wrist and pulled him back with surprising strength.

"No, It can't wait! Or else…" Her eyes were wide with fear. "He said that he would come back if I didn't tell someone!" The desperate horror on her face told Shadow that she was utterly convinced that she wasn't safe from Mor'gul here.

"Rouge, you don't need to worry about him." Shadow stated calmly. "We'll have you moved to Sonicteam, if it makes you feel safer." Her eyes were still wide with terror.

"No! You don't know what he can do! I'm _never _safe!" She shook with fear. "He told me to tell the rest of you… T-tell you about…" She could not muster the strength to go on, and her hand limply fell from Shadow's wrist. He could not tell, but he thought she might be crying. "You have to understand…" She lifted her hand to her face. "He's not evil. Black Doom was evil. Mor'gul is something else entirely… At one point as he tore my face, I screamed. He laughed at me. Then he tore harder, and whispered into my ear… He said, "I have always found the blood of a woman to be more satisfying, and her scream more pleasant to the ears."." she stopped there. Shadow stood up again, and set her hand in her lap. She was asleep. He and Tails exchanged silent glances, and left.

They exited the hospital just as silently as they had Rouge's room, but with a slightly different ambiance. _What is that rumbling?_ Shadow looked to the sky. _I hear thunder, but there aren't any clouds…_ He tapped Tail's shoulder. "Do you hear that?" Tail nodded.

"Yeah…" Suddenly, a screaming ball of metal whirled by overhead, causing them to both drop to the ground. Tails gaped as the crumpled mass collided into a building. "What the hell?!?"

Shadow stood up, brushing himself off. "Well…" He stated. "I think this definitely deserves investigation..."

* * *

Toldja.


	28. Urban Combat

_Hey. So yeah... stuff. At the part at the end, you should try reading it with the song in the background. You'll know what I mean when I get there._

_Oh, and to Gail, to whom I promised I would have this up last friday, I apologize. First week of school again and all that..._

_Indemnis are mine!_

* * *

_Recap; _They exited the hospital just as silently as they had Rouge's room, but with a slightly different ambiance. _What is that rumbling?_ Shadow looked to the sky. _I hear thunder, but there aren't any clouds…_ He tapped Tail's shoulder. "Do you hear that?" Tail nodded.

"Yeah…" Suddenly, a screaming ball of metal whirled by overhead, causing them to both drop to the ground. Tails gaped as the crumpled mass collided into a building. "What the hell?!?"

Shadow stood up, brushing himself off. "Well…" He stated. "I think this definitely deserves investigation..."

* * *

As they drew closer, the earth thundered louder and louder. Tails and Shadow began to pick up the distant sound of explosions. Their pace picked up, Tails lifting off of the ground to keep up with Shadow.

_What is that…? _Shadow thought to himself. Various yells of battle became audible, coupled with screams.

"We're close!" Tails exclaimed, whirling around the nearest building. He quickly jumped back, instinctively pinning Shadow against the wall of the building with one hand as a car flew past the corner. "Woah!" The unoccupied car shot into the air, flying straight through the third floor of an apartment building and into a lake in the park behind it. Tails watched the car sink slowly into the depths of the lake. _Wow…_ Shadow looked down at the fox, clearing his throat lightly to get Tails' attention. Tails looked up, smiling a little awkwardly and removing his hand from Shadow's chest. "Oh. Sorry Shadow."

Shadow leaned around the corner cautiously, pulling out his pistol. He pulled back again as a misfired tank shell blew a hole in the wall right in front of him. "Damn. There's a full out war, right in the middle of the city." Standing in the center of a circle of bullet shells of all calibers was a huge ram with a twelve foot long pole-hammer slung over one shoulder. The hammer itself was at least a foot in diameter, and had a three foot long scythe blade sticking out of the back. Shadow could see a few soldiers in not only GUN but military uniforms scattered about behind cover, tending to wounds and reloading weapons. A few tanks littered the area, all destroyed.

The ram yawned in pseudo-exhaustion. "Bah, all this work is making me a little bored. Isn't there anything fun to do in this little city?" His voice was deeper than Mor'gul's, and had a lot more haughtiness to it. Mor'gul was simply self confident, but this ram was unquestionably arrogant. A tank shell collided with the back of the ram's shoulder, exploding and making him stumble forward.

"Ha!" He stood up, brushing his thick armor off. "That didn't work the last two times, what makes you think it will now?!?" He whirled around, facing a tank that had not been brought to Shadow's attention until the blast. It fired at the ram again, who raised a hand and blocked the blast with a gauntlet. With an angry roar, the ram charged the tank with his head lowered. His neck muscles flexed powerfully, causing his plated neck armor to bulge outwards as he flicked the four ton assault vehicle into the air like a coin. It twirled at least twenty feet into the air, landing turret first atop the upturned scythe blade on his hammer. The turret crumpled as the blade stabbed right through it down to the base.

"Bah… you idiots are all about quantity. Nothing fun about fighting twenty babies." He hefted the hammer over his shoulder again, not even bothering to remove the tank. In fact, he kept it in its upside down position. Shadow could only imagine what it was like for the drivers of _that_ particular vehicle. The ram let the hammer slide off of his shoulder again, and stepped back to hold it out in front of himself. With a grunt, he made a quick twirl and sent the tank flying. It flew a full two blocks, and exploded on the side of a skyscraper.

"Bah." The ram uttered once again. Shadow could see that like Mor'gul's chuckle, that "bah" was going to be another annoying villain habit. "Well, since it's obvious that you little babies aren't going to be causing me any real trouble, I guess it's time to move on to the civilian buildings. Maybe _they_ can at _least_ stand up to more than one strike!" He emphasized this declaration of intent by walking over to an old Victorian apartment complex and blowing out one wall with his hammer. The building crumbled inwards, the screams of the few un-evacuated residents almost completely drowned out by the deep rumble of crumbling mortar and stone.

Shadow pulled back around the corner as the hammer struck the building. "Tails, I need you to help the people in that rubble. Once you've gotten any and all survivors out, either join the battle or help GUN and the Military set up some sort of outpost to keep him focused on military, not civilian forces." Tails nodded as Shadow clicked off his Glock's safety lock. The black figure looked to the horizon as he raised the gun to chest level. _Oh, god-damn __**perfect.**__ The sun's going to set soon… Better wrap this up quick._

Tails flew around the corner while setting off his watch's emergency signal. Hopefully, within moments Sonic and the others would be primed for the fight as well. Shadow on the other hand, took this opportunity to flip around the corner and fire three slugs at the back of the ram's head. The ram twitched several times as the bullets rang off of his neck armor, before whirling around in an irritated fashion.

"Who dares provoke me!?!"

Shadow gestured in a calm wave to get the ram's attention. "I did, goat-boy."

The ram snarled a little at Shadow's rude reference to his species. "Oh, aren't you clever, little rodent. I didn't even know that you so-called "heroes" were in the area!" He smirked. "Well, more fun for me! Proper introductions first, of course. I like to let my _worthy_ enemies know who killed them." He stabbed the handle of his pole-hammer into the ground triumphantly, as if he were marking a conquered mountain. "And today, you die by the hands of Koŕak! Fourth lord of destruction, sixth lord of the nine lords, and the man who is destined to crush this city!"

Shadow smirked right back at Koŕak. "Nice speech. Took you long enough. I am Shadow the hedgehog, and I'm just distracting you." Koŕak looked at him with a foolish expression, until he heard a loud grunt behind him. He turned in time to get Knuckle's trademark Exploding Punch right in the center of his chest armor. It threw Koŕak back with more force than any tank shell, and he hit a brick building hard enough to crack it a little.

Knuckles barked a laugh, Sonic walking up to stand next to him. "Good thing we were nearby to save you the trouble, Shadow." The echidna stated, flashing Shadow with one of his self-confident smirks.

Koŕak grunted as well as he pulled himself out of the small rut in the wall, inspecting his chest armor. There was a sizeable dent in it that may impede his breathing if he were to get worked up. "Bah…" He unclipped the armor from his shoulder. "Now, this just won't do!" He examined the armor for a few moments, before throwing the armor to the side. "I'll have to get that fixed later." He looked up at Knuckles with a glint in his eye, taking note of the patch Knuckles wore over his own. "Are you about done, or is there more?" Shadow looked over to Tails, who was dragging a man out the rubble by his collar.

"Hey Shad! We'll take it from here." Shadow turned around, once again looking at Sonic and Knuckles as Sonic called his unwanted nickname. The other hedgehog smiled and gave Shadow a thumbs-up. At this, Shadow quickly moved over with Tails to help the others. Sonic and Knuckles redirected their attention to the ram.

"I'm just getting started!" The echidna said, rolling his shoulder and cracking his knuckles.

Koŕak smiled. "Good. I'd hate to be bored." The ram barreled towards them, head lowered, as Knuckles and Sonic jumped in opposite directions to avoid the charge. As they did, Sonic balled up and delivered a quick homing attack across Koŕak's partially armored side. Likewise, Knuckles ducked down low and delivered a strike to the outside of Koŕak's leg, his sharp knuckles scratching the armor lightly. Koŕak stumbled from the multiple attacks, but seemed unfazed otherwise. He spun around with a speed belied by his girth, swinging the scythe side of his pole hammer in a wide arc. The two of them jumped up quickly, dodging the scythe with ease.

_He's fast, but not that fast… This seems too easy._ Sonic observed. Knuckles once again charged Koŕak, delivering a crippling blow to his ribcage. Koŕak bent inwards slightly as the blow hit, Knuckles barking out a laugh again. "HA! Who's the one who should be bored here?" The towering ram stood over the Echidna calmly, a quiet, arrogant smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't be laughing, mutt." Just then, Knuckles noticed something about his fist. Instead of touching Koŕak's abdomen, it was hovering a mere inch away from the ram's brown fur. It seemed to be suspended by a golden brown energy floating just around Knuckles' knuckles.

"Huh?" Just as this declaration of confusion left the echidna's mouth, a pulse resonated from the ram's body and threw him back. More of the strange energy engulfed the ram before fading out of view.

Koŕak pseudo-yawned once again, shouldering his hammer with a small sauntering movement. "What, you thought I was all muscle and nothing more? You can't hit me, because the sheer force of my spirit repels you." More of the golden brown essence exuded from his body, creating an impenetrable aura. Sonic and Knuckles exchanged glances.

Sonic pulled out his copy of Tail's communicators. "We'd better get a hold of some other people for this, just in case…" He flicked the small device open, but had to jump out of the way to avoid an attempt of crushing him flat with the hammer. "Woah!" The smashing motion of the hammer quickly turned into a swipe, following the hedgehog as Koŕak changed the attack's direction with a grunt.

"Stop… moving!" Sonic touched the ground again just in time to jump out of the way of a third swing. Knuckles tried to make his way around the ram, occasionally ducking under some flying rubble thrown up from the pavement when Koŕak hit it. He looked around at the various soldiers, who were just watching in awe. A few of them probably had never seen them fighting before. He gestured towards one, getting his attention. Through a series of hand signals, Knuckles tried to convey that he wanted the soldier to shoot Koŕak in the side to distract him. The soldier seemed to understand, and followed through appropriately. The bullets didn't even make it past the aura, but the sound caused Koŕak to turn away from Knuckles just enough.

With a roar, the echidna jumped onto his back and started hammering away at the back of Koŕak's head and neck plates. "Sonic, go!" Sonic quickly rolled up into a ball, gathering kinetic energy as he spun in place on the ground.

Koŕak flailed about wildly in an attempt to get the small red figure off of his head, but his shoulders were too armored and his arms too muscular to reach him. "GET OFF!" Sonic released his charge, slamming into Koŕak's exposed chest. Koŕak was too distracted to maintain his aura, and Sonic tore right through it. The three of them were thrown back into the same wall that Koŕak had hit before, and it crumbled on top of them.

Sonic jumped back triumphantly. "Whew… dusty!" He said, waving away the dust in the air from the crumbled mortar. Koŕak slowly raised himself out of the hole, a tiny bit of blood staining his fur around his mouth.

"Bah…" He turned around and grabbed Knuckles quickly, who seemed disoriented. "Looks like your friend hit his head too." Knuckles groggily blinked a few times as he regained consciousness, before Koŕak sent him flying towards Sonic. They collided heavily, Sonic grunting painfully as they rolled across the ground. Koŕak stood, using his hammer to pull himself up. "Nice try though." He smirked at them, and they quickly untangled themselves. All three of them were breathing through their mouths a little, but they weren't very worn out. Koŕak raised his hammer over his head. "Well, it's nice to see that there are at least _some _people competent here!" He dropped the hammer, cracking his knuckles through his gauntlets. "Shall we?"

"I think not, Koŕak." The three of them turned in surprise at the sound of the voice. It was an averaged size character of unknown species or pedigree. He seemed to be canine, but had feline elements as well. He had a childish smile on his face, and his eyes showed no anger or hatred. Just a strange innocent contentment.

Knuckles looked at the character curiously. _Who the hell…? Who's side is he on?_ The figure stood atop the handrail to a building walkway just ten feet away from the three, wreathed in a thick dull green robe. The creature itself was a plain brown, though you could hardly tell since he wore the hood of his robe up. Through the hood, he could just barely make out his basic facial shape and two bright green eyes.

He uncrossed his arms, revealing very loose sleeves and bandaged hands and forearms. The bandages were a little bloodstained, telling the observer that he had recently suffered severe injuries to the arms and those bandages weren't there for looks. "Koŕak, you ran out of time." He pointed at the moon. They hadn't even noticed, but the sun had set at least half an hour ago. "The council just sent me to tell you, since you don't have the proper clearance to continue at night."

Koŕak snorted angrily. "Indemnis, always the council dog."

The one known as Indemnis laughed and scratched the back of his head, the look on his face like an embarrassed little boy. "Ehe…"

Koŕak snorted again, following up with his annoying trademark noise. "Bah…" He turned to the two heroes. "Fine, I guess we'll have to finish this up later…" Koŕak slowly stomped off after Indemnis, who hopped off of the rail lightly with a tiny laugh and a happy smile.

Sonic raised a hand lightly. "Hey, what makes you think that you're going anywhere?"

Indemnis stopped laughing, his laid back stare directing itself towards Sonic. "What makes you think you can stop us?" He giggled childishly. "Koŕak, maybe, but not both of us at once!" He smiled, and his eyes glinted slightly. "You should be happy that we're pulling back. Take your wounded and celebrate your victory." Sonic was a little confused as to why Indemnis seemed to be encouraging their morale, instead of trying some sort of scare tactic. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he was saying, and was trying to bluff them. As if to emphasize this, the creature took a step back and slipped right on to his rear end.

He got up quickly, embarrassed by his clumsiness and rubbing his rear lightly. "Ow!"

Knuckles took a few steps forward. "you're not going anywh-"

He cut off as Sonic put a hand on his shoulder."Nah, he's right Knuckles. We should let them go and just tend to the humans. Otherwise, we're taking one step closer to dropping to their level."

Indemnis nodded politely to Sonic, lightly gripping Koŕak's forearm and pushing him away. "Thank you for understanding!"

Knuckles watched the two of them go slowly. "That was weird…"

* * *

Amy loved to watch the sun set. Today, she had Sonicteam mostly to herself since everyone was checking on Rouge or something. Someone had to stay here to keep an eye on Tikal, who was slowly getting more fragile. So here she was, staring out the window of her room to watch the sunset, all alone. Sometimes, she worried it would stay that way; alone. She knew Sonic had a bit of a crush on her now, but something just always was telling her that it wasn't meant to be. It made her sad sometimes, but she knew there was something about Sonic she didn't know that just made it impossible for him to ever like her as much as she did him. Even so, she would still have him and her other friends to keep her company. As long as she had that, she could get by, but sunsets were always just a little bittersweet.

She stood there for an hour, just watching the sun's glow wane little by little. She didn't hear anyone come in, so she assumed that Sonic was still visiting with Rouge. Tikal had fallen asleep long ago. Her sleep schedule was getting really weird. She'd go without sleep for four or five days, then sleep for eighteen or so hours. And that was just this week. It was completely unpredictable. She said it was because falling asleep scared her now, because she always had dreams. Amy could understand that to a certain degree.

When the sun finally set, she went about getting ready for bed. She was finally ready forty five minutes later, hair still a little wet from her evening shower and dressed in pajama tops and bottoms. Unfortunately, her mind was still racing as she crawled under her covers. She was thinking about her old apartment in the city, about Cream, about Tikal, about everything that came to mind. She sat up with an irritated sigh. "Well, this is getting nowhere."

She looked at her clock. It was only eight thirty anyway. Even so, she had had a late night the night before, what with Rouge and all. She should be exhausted. With a flick of her wrist, she turned on the radio in her alarm clock and settled down to read a little.

…_and that was "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", performed by the Beatles. Now we have a slightly less international hit for you, "Mr. Sandman" performed by the chordettes. This is KSSC, and you're listening to the golden age…_

Amy sighed again, her hand inches away from her lamp. "Oh, rub it in why dontcha. As if the fact that I'm not sleeping isn't bad enough, they've gotta be playing this…"

_**Bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung…**_

The sound of the song was actually very relaxing. She could feel her eyes drooping a little, and set her book back down next to the unused lamp.

_**Mr. Sandman… bring me a Dream…**_

_**Make him the cutest, that I've ever seen.**_

_**Give him two lips, like roses and clooover…**_

_**Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.**_

_**Sandman… I'm so alone.**_

_**Don't have nobody, to caall my own…**_

_**So please turn on your magic beeeaam…**_

_**Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.**_

She was out cold. Her blankets were a little loose, but she was sleeping comfortably with a small smile on her face.

_**Bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung…**_

_**Mr. Saandmaaannn… Bring me a Dreeaam…**_

_**Make him the cutest, that I've ever seen.**_

A creak echoed through the room, causing her to shift a little.

_**Give him the wooord, that I'm not a rover…**_

_**And tell him that his lonesome niiights are over…**_

A dark, ominous figure slowly slid out of the shadows, the ringing of a blade echoing quietly though the air.

_**Saandmaaannn… I'm so alooone…**_

Mor'gul smiled quietly to himself, no sign apparent on how he entered the room. He held his dark sword over his head ominously, the blade ringing in glee.

_**Don't have nobody to call my own…**_

_**So please turn on your magic beeeaam…**_

_**Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.**_

_**Bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung bung…**_

He leaned in closer, using one hand to lower himself onto the side of her bed silently. Still holding the blade aloft, he leaned in so that his muzzle was just tickling her ear… and started singing.

_**Mr. Sandman…**_

_**Yes?**_

_**Bring us a dream…**_

_**Give him a paaair of eyes, with a "come hither" gleam…**_

_**Give him a looonely heart, like Pagliacci…**_

_**And lots of wavy hair like Liberace.**_

_**Mr. Sandman, Someone to hold…**_

The sound of his voice was starting to discomfort her, and her eyes flickered lightly behind her eyelids. He smiled, Mordreth slowly floating down to her chest.

…_**Would be so peachy, before we're too old…**_

"I want you to know…" His voice was in a whisper, as if he were afraid to wake her. "You are not my next target. Your time will come, but until then…"

_**So please turn on your magic beam… Mr. Sandman**_

_**Bring us, Please Please Please … Mr. Sandman**_

"I condemn you." His blade flickered, and a small cut appeared on the inside of her arm. She flinched and whimpered quietly, her eyes flickering wildly behind her eyelids now.

_***Bwoo*, *Bwoo*…**_

He stood up, chuckling as he disappeared into the shadows. Amy began to twitch and whimper, mumbling worriedly to herself. Suddenly, her back arched, and she screamed in horror.

_**Briiinggg uus aaaaaa dreeeeaaaaammmm…**_

* * *

That's right, _another_ cliffhanger. HAHAHAH! Tune in next time to find out what the feck he did to Amy.


	29. Illusion

_Skaar;_ Yo. Craziness. I feel ill, so this is all you're getting.

_

* * *

Recap;_ He stood up, chuckling as he disappeared into the shadows. Amy began to twitch and whimper, mumbling worriedly to herself. Suddenly, her back arched, and she screamed in horror.

_**Briiinggg uus aaaaaa dreeeeaaaaammmm…**_

* * *

Amy awoke with a horrific start. Her bed was drenched in sweat, and she was aching as if she had just run a marathon. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them protectively. Her eyes began to dart about the room. It was quickly fading, but she had an impression that the dream she had had was horrible. It was as if her body remembered the pain, and instinctively quaked in fear. Her mind however, was blocking it out, leaving an instinctive feeling that she _should_ be afraid, but for no apparent reason. Here she was, in her room just as she had been before the nightmare. One of those late night romance talk shows was echoing quietly from her clock radio, obviously signifying to her that this was indeed reality. She knew for a fact that this show was on at this time, and that she did not recognize this caller's voice, so she wasn't dreaming up an old show that she had heard weeks before.

With a small twist, she was facing the side of her bed. Cautiously one foot lowered to the ground. When it was identified that the ground was indeed still there and she wasn't having some sort of fall-off-a-cliff nightmare, she slid off of the bed. A glance told her that it was 3:32 AM, about halfway into the hour long talk show. She reached out towards it and turned it off with a click. She heard a quiet thump below her, and looked down.

_Is that my doll?_ She reached down and picked it up. It was a small doll of Sonic that she got when she was ten. _Two years… I've had this little guy for a long time._ It must have been tucked against her side on the inside of her arm. _I wonder when I got this out last night…_ With the small doll in hand, she made her way down the hall to the nearest bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she entered, not really liking what she was seeing. "Ew… I look gross."

Her reflection looked back at her with dull eyes, slightly bloodshot and riddled with baggy areas. There was a small spot of matted fur next to her mouth from drooling a little. Her hair was all over the place. The dark spots under her eyes could provide adequate shade for all of those poor sun baked people in Africa. She grimaced, which did _not_ add to the look in any positive way. She addressed the reflection, shaking her finger at it. "God, now _you_ look like you need a shower." Her reflection mimicked her actions perfectly as expected, causing Amy to look down at herself. "Yeah, you're right, I do too…"

After about ten minutes of scrubbing her face and slicking her hair with water, she felt a little better with what she saw. She nodded at her reflection and stepped back out of the bathroom, resolving to check if Sonic had gotten back. The boy's rooms were only a quick trip through the living room away, so why not? A quick trip back down the hall brought her to said living room. A faint smell caught her nose. _What is that?_ She sniffed the air hesitantly. _It smells familiar…_ Her speculation was interrupted by a slow, quiet, and deep chuckle. "Uh… Hello?" She looked around the darkened room nervously.

"Afraid of the dark, child?" She whirled around to face the voice, but saw only darkness ahead of her. Almost as if to confirm the voice's statement, she frantically fumbled about for a light. There was a standing lamp to the left of her, and her groping hand managed to find its switch. Light flooded outwards from the fluorescent bulb within, illuminating almost the entire room.

_Blood…_ The coppery smell flooded her nostrils, and it became all too clear what she had smelled. The air was so thick with the stench that she could taste it in the back of her throat. No source of the smell presented itself, however. She could see a figure just outside of the ring of light, sitting casually in one of the recliners scattered about the room. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his right knee touching his left ankle, and was leaning back in the chair without reclining it. One arm was crossed under his chest, propping up his other. The hand on his other arm floated by his face, only touching it with a few fingers lightly. His face was the only part of his body too far back for her to make out well, but two blue eyes glinted back at her from the darkness. There was a small side table next to him, upon which sat a bottle of wine and a half full wine glass.

"Intoxicating, isn't it?" The figure's head tilted to the side. "The way that blood just _consumes _your senses?"

The calm, slow way that he spoke helped Amy to regain her guts. "Who the heck are you?" Amy glared at the figure. "You'd better back off…"

A chuckle echoed through the night once again. "… or you're going to chase me away? Not likely." From the way that his silhouette moved, she could tell that he had just started to smile. "Sleeping well tonight, Amy?"

Shock struck her face. "What?" _How…_

"I do hope that you enjoyed that little dream Mordreth graced you with… It gave me enough time to do _my_ work, at least." He reached over to the table, taking a small sip from the wine glass. "In fact, I think that this is one of my favorite works of art." He set the wine glass down again and reached for a lamp that sat behind the wine bottle. With a click, the last bit of the room was illuminated.

The wall behind him was _solid_ red, aside from a few small handprints. There was a familiar form crucified to it. Tikal's hands were impaled by a knife each, keeping her hanging. One arm hung limply below one of these said hands, completely removed from her shoulder. Amy could see the base of the bone sticking out of her arm, and a small dent in the stump where it used to be. It had not been cut off; it had been torn right out of its socket. Blood dripped from eyeless sockets. Her head was hanging from her neck by a mere thread of ligament. Half of the flesh on her attached arm was removed, and Amy could see all of the bones in her arm from shoulder to wrist completely. There was a large stake in Tikal's stomach, plugging up a larger hole from which Amy could just barely see Tikal's array of organs. What she knew about anatomy told her that several were missing, including her heart, her liver, and her stomach. What terrified her most is that her legs were not below her stomach. Their bones sat next to the man, and there was no sign of the flesh in sight. She could now tell that he was a wolf.

"Ah, isn't it _glorious?_" He smiled again, and chuckled. "My favorite touch was when I reached into her body and popped her stomach, letting the acid burn away her insides." Amy shrieked, smashing backwards into the wall in a vain attempt to distance herself from the atrocity and its creator. He stood up slowly, cracking his neck. "I told you that you wouldn't be my next target. I had to kill Tikal first, you see." He yawned calmly; studying her quaking body like a wolf studies a deer. "She knew me. Weaknesses are quite tedious… I'd rather not have mine exposed." He smiled as her legs gave out.

She tried to say something, but all that came out was a small whimper as he crouched down on all fours, his muzzle inches away from her nose. He snorted, and the scent of blood once again assaulted her. "Do you understand what it means, now that she is out of the way…?" The wolf smiled at her, letting his hypnotic eyes consume her own. "It's your turn, Amy…" Pain arced through her body as she screamed in agony. She began to feel weak, and looked down faintly. He had plunged a red katana into her chest. Her head rocked down to the side, and she could just barely see his face. His eyes, those pools of pure evil… They burnt into her mind, still before her eyes when the darkness of death engulfed them.

_The Blackness… It was all. The floor she stood on, the walls she knew had to be there, the endless sky above… Painted black. She seemed to be standing on nothing. Even so, the floor below her was a hard as stone. She couldn't tell, but she thought that she was moving. Her hair was being blown about, so she was moving fast. A small figure appeared in the distance, approaching fast. Or maybe she was the one approaching fast, she couldn't tell. She came to a stop in front of the small figure, which lay on the ground unmoving._

_It was her doll, its plushy eyes looking up at her emptily. Amy picked it up, hugging it to herself in an attempt to comfort her. It was a cold, empty and lonely world she found herself trapped in. _

"_Helloooo…?" This was not her voice. It sounded quiet. She was fairly confident it was male. She looked about frantically in search of the voice. Anyone but her… If there was anyone else here, she would find them. Clutching her doll, she followed the faint echo of the distant voice. She could make out another form in the distance, and sped up. __**Is that…?**__ Her thoughts echoed through the blackness as if she had said them aloud. She drew closer, the form becoming more distinguished. __**Sonic!!!**__ He was laying face first on the ground, unmoving._

_She approached him, dropping to her knees. She opened her mouth to call his name, but no sound came out. __**My voice…**__ She understood. She could not talk in this world, but she could think. She rolled him over, slapping his face lightly and projecting her thoughts as best she could. __**Sonic, wake up!**__ His eyes flickered slightly, and as she rested his head upon her lap, finally opened. _

"…_Amy…?" He yawned, blinking a few times to shake the sleep from his eyes. She brightened up, smiling down at him._

_**Sonic! I thought you might have been dead…**__ He continued to blink at her, rubbing his eyes a little. _

"_It's been a long time since I've had company here…" She looked at him quizzically._

_**Sonic..?**__ A loud and sickening snap echoed through the air as his head tilted to the side. His eyes became empty… Dead. __**S-Sonic!**__ She recoiled from the body, eyes fearful at the thought of losing him. His head rolled to the side, dead eyes facing her. Suddenly, cracks began to appear around his eyes and his mouth, like breaking porcelain. His eyes rolled into their sockets, and his lips seemed to pull away into his mouth. A bright glow emanated from his empty eye sockets as the sound of a match striking echoed through the air, as if a candle had been lit deep within his skull. Through them, she could see the back of his skull, as if the head was empty. Another loud crack echoed as his mouth shattered, leaving in its place a devious jack-o-lantern smile. In fact, that's what the head looked like now. A Jack-o-lantern._

"_Hellooo…" The apparition stood up, making no move to approach Amy. "My my, didn't master send me a __pretty__ little one this time…" His voice sounded like the tear of steel-on-steel, grating her ears with its metallic screech. "Come on, girly…" Suddenly, it was right in front of her, their faces practically touching. She tried to recoil, but she couldn't move anymore. The holes in his head that acted as eyes slanted and the hollow jack-o-lantern smile below widened, giving her a good look at the bottom his skull. There was no hole for any of the usual nerves or spinal cord links to get out, and these body parts were nowhere in sight. Its head really was just like a hollow pumpkin._

"_How about we have a wee bit of fun…?" The creature cackled madly, and Amy clenched her eyes shut in fearful anticipation. There was a flutter of hundreds of little wings, and then silence. She cautiously cracked open an eye. She was standing in a stone hallway. At the end of it was what appeared to be a chaos emerald. Amy realized that she still was holding her doll. Looking down at the little figure, she realized that it was the only thing in this place that she could call familiar. Clutching it to her chest, she looked around and made a cautious step forward. She felt a small prick on her arm and flinched._

_She glanced at her arm and saw a small needle. No thicker than the kind you use to sew. It was about five or six inches long, and had a single green stripe at the top. She pulled it out, examining it more. It wasn't poisoned, or she would have started to feel some sort of effect already. It dropped to the floor as she released it. Another stuck into the floor by her foot. She looked at the walls curiously. __**The walls… they're covered in them.**__ Sure enough, they were lined up in rows on the stone. Two more struck near her. Looking out towards the emerald, she started to run._

_Thousands of tiny needles flew through the air. Many missed their target. Some didn't. There was a needle in her calf, a needle in her elbow, and a needle in her cheek. The flurry started to grow closer to her, more hitting with every second. She knew that her only chance was that emerald. Little pinpricks struck all over her body, telling her of the presence of more needles. Suddenly, one shot across the bridge of her nose. For the first time, they drew blood. The needles began to dig deeper and deeper in as they struck, causing more pain than just a prick. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and frantically tried to run harder. __**I'm dreaming…**__ A hiss escaped from her mouth as one embedded itself in her shin from tip to base. _

_She fell. The doll slid across the floor as it was thrown out of her hands. She raised her head just as a loud *shunk* echoed through the air. A single needle pierced the doll, straight through the heart. The needles stopped. She blinked a few times, feeling dazed. There was no hallway anymore. She was back in her living room, staring at not her doll, but Sonic, impaled on the wall exactly where Tikal had hung. The very same sword that she had been stabbed with sat within his flesh, exactly where the needle had struck.__** This has to be a dream…**__ She stood up hesitantly, small cuts covering her body from where the needles had been, and approached the body. As she grew closer, she began to notice others. _

_She turned quickly, looking on either side of herself. Further down the wall on either side of Sonic was Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. They all hung from the wall as Sonic did, with that same accursed blade through their chests. _

_**N-no…**__ she shook her head. __**No, this is a dream. None of this could ever happen in reality.**__ Suddenly, a gloved hand grasped her throat. She gagged and flailed uselessly as she was lifted into the air. Sonic's head slowly raised, his eyes pitch black. He pulled the sword out of his chest, dropping to the floor as he did so. The jolt from him hitting the floor loosened his grip, and Amy pulled out of his hand. __**Sonic, what are you doing?!?**__ She pulled back as Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow in turn removed the swords pinning them, all of them with black, undead eyes. Amy looked around the room, but saw no door, window, or any other way that she could distance herself from these demons. _

_She was helpless as the attacked her, too weak to take all four of them at once. Slashes appeared across her body, and her clothes became tattered, clinging to her skin by a few pitiful shreds of fabric. She fell back. This pain arcing across her body…_

_**It's real…**__ Her vision was beginning to blur. The four stood above her, red swords dripping blood. Her blood. Small droplets splattered on her bare fur. A single, blurry figure stepped up between them. Its eyes and mouth glowed faintly. _

"_A little worse for wear, eh girly?" There was a loud snap, and its head tilted at an unnatural angle. A thin, clawed hand tore into its own throat, where it grasped something. Amy watched weakly in shock as the creature slowly pulled a sword from its throat, pulling straight up as if unsheathing it from a scabbard. It was the same as the rest, but glowed with an ominous, sadistic light._

_The creature crouched down very suddenly, pulling Amy's head up by her hair. Once again, their faces almost touched. The glowing blade floated impatiently below her throat. Another strike of a match, and his face glowed ever brighter with an unseen light within. "Ooohhh… How rude of me. I never did introduce myself, did I…?" He dragged her across the floor, leaving a trail of blood on the floor. She grunted as he slammed her head against the wall on the opposite side of the room. _

_The figure released a cackle akin to a piece of sheet metal being torn in half. His undead drones that used to be her friends circled around them. She sobbed quietly as he forced her head up, making her look into those empty, glowing pits in his skull. "I am called Mordreth. We're going to play again very soon…" His blade sunk into her skull, but not before she had one last thought. __**Wait… I never owned a Sonic doll…**_

* * *

Amy awoke on the floor, Shrieking and sobbing.

* * *

Woo. No comment. Too sick.


	30. Reality

Well, this is chapter thirty. Nothing commemorative. In fact, this chapter is shorter than the ones I've been doing recently. Oh, AND I missed my update last week. Disgraceful. Sorry about that missed update by the way, but you students know how it is at the end of the semester. I'm trying to stick to a once a week (bare minimum) update here, but I'm not being very successful. Anyways, to distract from my failure...

_Shadow;_ This again...? Fine, I guess it's overdue. Skaar does not own ANY of the canon characters, or the original Sonic universe. He does own The Valley of Chaos and all of it's inhabitants, which so far includes Skaar, Aila, Korak, Jair, Indemnis, Aira, Mor'gul... Is that it? I hope so. Oh, and Luna belongs to Luna Moondragon, native to and Youtube.

_Skaar;_ Oh, and to my dear cousin;

Sorry if I messed up Luna's personality ridiculously badly here, but you never did answer well when I asked what she'd be like in a depressing situation. Not to mention you change her personality more than most people change their clothing....

_Shadow;_ Should I be disgusted or impressed?

_

* * *

_

_Recap; She sobbed quietly as he forced her head up, making her look into those empty, glowing pits in his skull. "I am called Mordreth. We're going to play again very soon…" His blade sunk into her skull, but not before she had one last thought. **Wait… I never owned a Sonic doll…**_

Amy awoke on the floor, Shrieking and sobbing.

* * *

_It burns!_ Her entire left side felt like it was on fire. She writhed in pain as this liquid flame arced through her veins. Her vision was fuzzy, but she could make out a black, ominous shape above her.

"Amy." The voice was familiar, but only just so. Another shockwave of pain flew across her as she felt something touch her arm, and she screeched in agony. "No… he's been here. Luna, get in here!" Another shape came to her attention, but was quickly engulfed by a blackness covering her eyes. Her hearing became scattered. "Get… o-… her-." Then there was nothing.

* * *

Skaar laid Amy's body on the couch slowly. "She's stopped convulsing." He gently twisted her arm enough to see the small festering cut on it. "The first dream is always the most painful…" He turned back, looking at his daughter. "She's a danger to us now. We can't let her stay here with the others.

Luna looked at Amy's limp figure slightly guiltily. "What's going to happen to her now…?"

Skaar shook his head tentatively. "It changes… when I was first cut, I was blind for two days. Deaf, as well… All I could hear were the voices in my head. There were hundreds of other little agonies, as well. I think that with her, it will be different. The symptoms may be the same, but I think they will have different durations with her." He leaned down and lifted one of Amy's eyelids slowly, staring into her now pale grey irises. "She's blind now for sure. It won't be permanent, but it's still there…" He closed her eye and slowly stood up. "The bond between her and that cursed sword is already complete though… She's going to be trapped in her own mind for at least another hour. After that, I do not envy her…"

Luna shook her head slowly, an angry glint in her eyes. "I still can't believe it! That furry _Bastard!_ Of all people, I would never have thought Mor'gul was this horrible…" Looking at Amy once again, she could not help but feel a bit dejected. "Father… Does she have to be taken away? You have lasted a long time, and you never were corrupted…"

Skaar could not help but glare at his child. "I am not as weak minded as this little girl!" His glare shifted to the small festering cut on Amy's arm. "She will break, and she will _kill _those she values!" Amy twitched ever so slightly, a quiet moan escaping her lips. "You cannot know what that sadistic weapon does to a person, Luna… The beast is a creative and sick demon." He put a hand gently on the small cut that was subject to his glare. "She will die someday, and I would hope that you wish her to do it in a manner which only increases the dead by one."

Amy sighed quietly, and one of her eyes twitched. Skaar recoiled at the sign of movement. Amy's head rocked slowly to the side, and one pale eye half opened. Her body began to shake. Shadows began to rise about Skaar, intent on striking his target if necessary. Luna, on the other hand, sighed and rolled her eyes at her father's actions.

"Skaar, can't you tell anything about anyone?" She made her way past the black hedgehog, and crouched by Amy's shivering body. "She's not going crazy already…" A calm hand touched Amy's face, and Amy twitched as her eyes bolted open. "She's just waking up a little earlier than you predicted."

Amy blinked rapidly as if to clear the fog of blindness from her eyes. "WH-who?!?" He voice was raw from her earlier screaming. "What-" She moved as if to jump up, but found that the combination of her current vision impediment and a severe case of jelly-leg syndrome left her whimpering on the floor, barely able to move her arms in her newfound state of physical weakness. "O-ow…" She curled up into a ball quietly.

Skaar watched this display with no small feeling of pity. _Poor child…_ He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Amy, can you hear me?" Amy flinched away from the contact and the voice, but was unable to do so very effectively. "L-leave me alone…" She sobbed loudly. "I-I'm not playing your g-g-games!" She was choking out the words in a very weak resemblance of conviction.

Skaar blinked stoically, his hand still touching her shoulder. _Games… so she still thinks that she is in her nightmare world._ "Amy… this isn't Mordreth. This is Skaar."

"Skaar?!? He's gone! LEAVE ME ALONE!" If possible she curled into a tighter ball. "I'm not f-falling for a-a-anymore t-ricks…"

Skaar motioned silently to Luna to get a blanket from off one of the couches. "Amy, it is me… I finished my errand. You had a bad dream." _At least she isn't deaf…_ "Amy, you have to pay attention to me. You are only temporarily blind. Your vision will come back, and hopefully very soon. The creature in your dream did this to you, but I promise you, he won't come back for a while. You need to sleep now, or your body may break from mental strain."

He lifted her up slowly, getting the requested blanket from Luna slowly and taking care to wrap Amy's slightly smaller frame in it. "It may seem impossible to you at the moment, but you will fall asleep. Let go of your fear and you will find that you are extremely tired…" Setting her on the couch once again, he stood up quietly. "When you wake up, your vision should be back. Come talk to me then, and I will help you."

Amy shivered in her blanket, but instead of closing, her eyes went wide. "D-don't leave me here!"

Luna sat down on the arm of the couch, soothingly touching Amy's hair. "Don't worry Amy. It's all gone for now, you're safe again."

Skaar raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Luna's actions. "Don't you hate "playing the mother figure"?"

Luna glared back at him. "Hey, you may have become an irritable jerk dad, but of all people I'd think that you would understand empathy. Didn't you learn anything from mom…?"

Skaar sighed. "Of course… Aila would have reprimanded me for such a rude comment." He looked at Luna once again before turning away, intent on leaving the dark and empty room. "If you want to blame anyone for my hateful state of mind, blame that… how did you put it?" He looked over his shoulder at the two of them one last time, already partially out the door. "…"Furry bastard" who killed your mother."

Luna's eyes drifted to the floor sadly as he left. _Mom…_ She blinked a few times before redirecting her attention to Amy. "You still awake?" Amy twitched as if to respond. "Hey, Amy… You have to understand something about yourself now. Your life is gonna be pretty messed up from now on, but you can't tell anyone about it."

Amy blinked her eyes uselessly. "Why not? T-this is pretty bad…"

Luna just shook her head instinctively, knowing the action was useless since Amy couldn't see it. "You just can't. If you do, the people fighting may get distracted. If we screw up, we die. If you need someone to sympathize with, or someone to talk to, come to me or dad. But if you tell the others, horrible things might happen to them."

Amy nodded weakly. "I-I think I understand…"

Luna nodded and stood up. "Don't worry, it can't kill you." _Killing yourself on the other hand… That may become a very real possibility…_ She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Get some sleep, Amy. Skaar tells me that he doesn't come back when you sleep the second time."

* * *

Thousands of tiny acupuncture needles stuck out from Mor'gul's body. Each one was five to six inches long, and had a single green stripe near the top. Every time his face twitched, the needles on it moved about like a sparse corn field on a windy day. Much like in Amy's dream, a wine glass sat on the table next to him, the red wine within giving off the disturbing impression of blood. "Indemnis, your obsessive study of the physical body is a little interesting."

Indemnis' head popped up from behind the large wolf's body. "Well, it's only a hobby sir."

Mor'gul chuckled. "I don't think you are capable of having a hobby, Indemnis. You're always so dedicated."

Indemnis smiled at the compliment, scratching at the back of his head embarrassingly. "No I'm not, lord…"

Mor'gul smiled quietly at his subordinate's attitude, so contradictory to his own. "Really. How many hours to you train daily? Before you open your mouth, don't forget to include your studies of anatomy."

Indemnis didn't even stop to think. "Fourteen hours!" After a moment of letting his words sink in, he laughed awkwardly. "I guess that isn't normal…"

Mor'gul pulled a small needle out of his temple. "No, no it isn't. Of course, I'm sure you're impatient to recover after your battle."

Indemnis looked down at his hands slowly, clenching his bandaged and bloodied palm. "…Yes…" Hi blinked, his usual cheer once again surfacing. "Do you think that I will ever be accepted into the Nine, sir?"

Mor'gul blinked emotionlessly, taking a small sip from the wineglass. "…Someday soon, Indemnis. They will recognize your power eventually."

Indemnis sighed quietly. "I wasn't good enough last time they let me fight… Koŕak almost killed me."

Mor'gul began to pull a few more needles out of his face, dropping them to the floor. "Indemnis, you are honestly not very smart." Indemnis knew this already and just smiled once again. "However, you are, as I said before, dedicated. You are loyal as well. One day, your loyalty and dedication will "pay off", as they say." Standing up, he quickly flexed his back and rolled his neck around. "Ah… your knowledge in anatomy is rather impressive, Indemnis. That is for sure." He began pulling needles out of his shoulder and back in handfuls. "Amazing what a single little needle can do… The Chinese had some rather interesting discoveries."

Indemnis watched Mor'gul's actions nervously. "Uh, Mor'gul… it's not safe to just pull them out in big groups like that." He had already removed almost all of the needles by the time Indemnis finished speaking.

"No time for me to pay attention to such a triviality." Once again, the monstrous wolf's face took on a dark and sadistic glow. "I have a planet to conquer, after all!" He stalked off slowly, his bloodlust evident. Just before he left the room, he paused. "Oh… Indemnis, if you need assistance, I will train with you in a few hours."

Indemnis perked up. "Oh, just like one of my old lessons!"

Mor'gul smiled at his giddiness. "Yes. We'll be using weapons this time, so bring your gauntlets if you need to."

Indemnis sighed, his smile faltering ever so slightly. "Aw, but you always win when we do that…"

* * *

Welp, there it is. Next one will be longer. By the way, I've been getting a bit more reader/reviewer traffic recently, so I just want to re-iterate this; Please review. I don't care if you like it or hate it. If you aren't rude about it, I'll take any criticism yo throw at me gracefully. Just... Review! Even if it's to tell me how annoyingly short this chapter is!!! Or how I use the "Horizontal Ruler" button in the edit screen WAY too much! REVEIW, PLEASE!!! RAWRFEEDBACK!


	31. The Publicty Stunt

_No comment, too sleepy._ Just before he left the room, he paused. "Oh… Indemnis, if you need assistance, I will train with you in a few hours."

* * *

Recap;

Indemnis perked up. "Oh, just like one of my old lessons!"

Mor'gul smiled at his giddiness. "Yes. We'll be using weapons this time, so bring your gauntlets if you need to."

Indemnis sighed, his smile faltering ever so slightly. "Aw, but you always win when we do that…"

* * *

Tails burst into the room, panting heavily and carrying a small pouch. "Sonic!" He looked around, but the main room of Sonicteam was empty. Tails sighed. "I bet he's still sleeping… that was a pretty crazy battle yesterday." He began to make his way to the men's rooms, but stopped in the center of the arranged furniture. _Wait… something's different in here…_ He looked around the room slowly, taking in every detail. Suddenly, it hit him. _Where is the couch that was in front of the TV…?_

"Hey fluff-ball!" He jolted into the air at the sound of the woman's voice. "Where were you going in such a hurry?!?" Tails shook his head to calm himself, recognizing the self-assured tone.

"Oh… Luna. I forgot you were staying here. Haven't seen you in a while…" He turned around, facing her calmly. "You didn't have anything to do with the fact that our couch is gone, did you…?

Luna put on a fake smirk. "Erm, no…" _Not exactly…_

* * *

_The night before…_

* * *

"_Skaar, what the hell are you doing?!?" The couch hovered in the air, suspended by shadowy tendrils as it floated slowly down the hall to Amy's room._

"_Luna, be quiet before you wake up any of the others!" Skaar murmured furiously. "We cannot leave her in plain sight, or come tomorrow when she wakes up, people will know that she is ill from the look of her face. Not to mention that she was sleeping on the couch, not in her own bed… When the others returned they saw that she was asleep in her room, didn't they? They would be pretty curious if she had moved out to the couch for no reason __**and **__seemed to have contracted "the flu". If we put her back in her room, she will have time when she awakes to improve her haggard appearance. Besides, what if she is still blind when she wakes up? That will certainly concern them. This way, she can just hide in her room and tell them not to come in if that is the case."_

_Luna groaned and palmed her forehead. "I __**know **__that…"She glared at him through her fingers. "But why didn't you just lift __**her**__ up, instead of moving the entire couch?!? Don't you think that a missing piece of furniture is even more so suspicious?!?"_

_Skaar shook his head. "No, then we'd risk waking her. She's already in pain, Luna, and Mordreth may come back if she has to fall asleep again." He shook his head once again, but this time at the couch. "Now help me try to figure out how to get this __**damn couch through this doorframe!!!**__"_

* * *

Tails raised an eyebrow at her expression. "…Right. Well, if it turns up, would you mind telling me where it is?" _She probably chopped it in half by accident or something…_ "Luna, is Sonic up yet?"

Luna shook her head. "No one is up yet but me. It is pretty early for you lazy types…"

Tails chose to ignore her verbal jab. "Well, you'd better help me get everyone up then. This is important."

Within a few minutes, the usual inhabitants of Sonicteam had gathered in the living room. Sonic yawned, sprawled out on the floor where the couch used to be. "What's this big problem of yours, Tails?"

Tails looked around. "Where's Amy?"

"She didn't feel well." They all whirled around, facing the voice.

Shadow blinked confusedly. "Skaar…? When did you-"

"Just last night." Skaar responded. "I had to deal with something."

"That's not the issue here, believe me." Tails interjected. He reached into the pouch, pulling out a DVD marked SSBTV. "Guess what? That battle you had with that Koŕak guy yesterday? It was staged."

Knuckles took on a dumbfounded expression. "Wha…? How could it be staged? We weren't acting…"

Tails shook his head. "No, not staged like that. I mean that Koŕak was never trying to kill anyone." He walked over to the television, putting the small disc into the DVD player. "It was all to distract the government from the media." He took a few steps back, taking the remote off of the arm of the same recliner that Mor'gul had sat in in Amy's dream. "It was on all of the news stations all day yesterday, and the government was too busy with Koŕak to notice until it was too late."

The television crackled to life, and a cheesy little news station tune echoed from the speakers. The screen read "Station Square Broadcasting; Television". A well-groomed man holding a pamphlet appeared sitting at a desk. "We interrupt-" It cut off as Tails pressed the fast forward button.

"The basic gist of this part is that a Capital City local news station was invited to Mission Island for a live interview."

Sonic gaped. "Wha-… Why the heck would any of those weirdos invite a _news crew_ to Mission Island?"

Shadow shook his head. "This is an odd development… None of the other villains we've faced did this, that's for sure."

Tails nodded in return. "Here we go; just watch." He pressed play, and the television flickered as it readjusted. The cameraman appeared to be inside of Mor'gul's den, right inside the entrance of his castle.

"This is Eric Adamian, here with the supposed "terrorist" behind the recent destruction of Mission Island, which the government has announced to be attributed to a tsunami." It was a blonde man with a slightly boyish look, the kind of man with the quintessential "Eric" look about him.

"I am on Mission Island, and let me say that it does not look like a tsunami did what has happened here." The camera turned, and Mor'gul's face came into view. He had his charming groomed look about him, the same that he had had when Mor'gul had introduced himself to them for the first time. Ironically, he was sitting in the same chair that he had when they had met him as well, a cup of red wine in hand and his book "The Fall of the House of Usher" sitting on a stool next to him. Amazingly enough, "Eric" seemed to be unfazed by Mor'gul's eyes.

Shadow squinted at the camera uselessly. _Hm. Skaar said that you can't see the effect of his eyes through a camera, but he's staring face to face. Mor'gul can effect what his eyes convey very well, it seems._

Mor'gul's image chuckled. "I'd like to clarify on that actually. I am not actually responsible for the death of the servicemen here. That act was committed by my enemy, the hedgehog known as Skaar, who is presently working alongside your government. I just tore down the buildings afterwards." The various members of Sonicteam could not help but glance back at Skaar.

"Well? Expect me to apologize?" They all slowly turned back to the screen.

"So then, "Mor'gul" is it?" The wolf nodded politely, taking a sip of his wine. "You say that the government has "partnered up" with this aggressor, even after he took the lives of those scores of people? Why?"

"Ah, yes. You see, they find me to be a greater threat to them, so they have chosen to forgive his insurgency in the interest of self-preservation."

Eric nodded. "I see. So then, why is it that you chose to invite CCMD to your home?"

Mor'gul leaned back into his chair. "Well… Capital City is the closest human city to Mission Island, and my sources told me that you were the most reasonable choice. I want to cut through the rumors that have been imposed on the public."

Eric smiled one of those fake reporter smiles. "Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity. Now then, what rumors are those?"

The wolf scratched his face nonchalantly as he contemplated how to word his answer. "First of all, that Mission Island was destroyed by natural causes. That has been disproven. Next, I wish to address the reason this has happened. You see, my organization-"

"Your organization?"

Mor'gul chuckled. "Oh yes, I forgot. As I speak, I am representing my allies. We are known as the "Nine Lords", a council of exceptionally skilled creatures of divine associations. We have no specific religion as a whole, and are dedicated simply to the preservation of the spiritual spectrum of this planet."

"So then, you figure yourselves akin to gods?"

"Haha, no, nothing that arrogant. We are however, receiving direct orders from divine creations."

"Many human groups have claimed that to justify their acts. What makes you so different than the suicide bomber, or the crusader?"

"That is not for me to decide." Mor'gul gestured to his left with a slow hand. "I would like you to meet two of my other associates, Bahbask and Amals."

Two figures emerged from the background as the camera panned over to them. The first was what appeared to be a short human male, but it was near impossible to tell because it wore a thick and intricate black robe, which was trimmed with purple cloth and riddled with tiny red letters in a strange and foreign language. Its face was almost completely concealed by a very dark grey cloth that hung limply from the front of his hood. All that was visible of his entire body was a within a small slit between the cloth of his face, revealing his eyes. They were a bright, bright blue, almost to the point of white, and were bordered by dead-grey and heavily wrinkled skin. He seemed to have a constant empty glare.

The other was a much taller figure wearing a cassock, similar in style to a Greek Orthodox Clergyman. He seemed to have a twitchy nature, as he tended to make very abrupt head movements as he looked about the room cautiously. He appeared to be an extremely tall and lanky stoat, white as snow. Standing next to Mor'gul even as Mor'gul sat, it was apparent that this person was at least six feet and four inches tall. His eyes were a dull red, and had an uncomfortable shiftiness about them.

Shadow cocked his head. _So… an albino stoat and a…?Human? Zombie? Demon? Who knows…_

Mor'gul waved towards the shorter humanoid. "That is Bahbask. He does not speak. The other one is Amals. Ignore his nature, he is an eccentric person."

Eric blinked. "What does that have to do with why you are here?"

Mor'gul leaned forward, setting the wine glass on top of the book. "The Nine Lords has a complicated order of command, but I can tell you… The three of us, and one other who could not be here, are known as the Lords of Destruction. These titles are not tied to us as people, but rather they are places held by those who qualify for them. It is destined by divine law that the Nine Lords will bring about retribution. All religions mention our coming at some point in existence. I believe that Christianity in particular may mention something similar to this…"

You could tell that Eric was on the edge of his seat. This was going to _make_ his career. Mor'gul sighed, leaning back once again. "Oh… What was it called…" Suddenly he smiled and snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes! In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John is shown the history of man through a series of seals, accessed through a scroll held by "The Lamb", who is often associated with the figure Jesus. Mankind's history is a series of metaphors, including the coming of four horsemen. They are not real, just symbols of the hardships and the order they will come in.

"However, _we_ are very real, and we bring exactly what these four horsemen bring. We have come from a different plane, and exist as a different order of being from that of the inhabitants of this world. Where we choose to tread, retribution of the sinful will follow. We shall lead the Nine Lords as a forefront in this land, tearing down the corrupt governments that oppose us."

Eric was truly excited now, even though he was probably convinced that he was speaking to a lunatic. "So then, for the sake of proof, can you actually associate yourselves with the four horsemen in any way?"

Mor'gul nodded calmly. "Of course. Bahbask, unquestionably, is death." He chuckled. "If you knew him as I do, you would agree. It really is a hilarious irony for me to say this, but Amals is certainly a pestilence, so I would have to say he is pestilence." He laughed quietly at the thought.

"Why is that a "hilarious irony", Mor'gul?"

Mor'gul just smiled that cunning smile. "Oh, you will all find out later. Unfortunately, my rather irritable friend Koŕak is not here. He is away, proving his very worthy title as War."

Eric gaped excitedly. "So then, you're…"

Mor'gul chuckled once again. "Well, of course. Who better for the role of Conquest than the one who leads the other three to battle?"

"One last question then, Mor'gul; Do you have any proof of this "divine mission of retribution" that you have mentioned repeatedly?"

Mor'gul closed his eyes and dipped his head, smiling to himself. "Ah, yes… I am surprised that you would ask that. Doesn't the Christian religion call for faith, first and foremost?"

Eric smiled awkwardly. "Well yes, but our viewers call for more than that… Who's to say that you have any more right to pass judgment than a man, or a government?"

Mor'gul raised his head once again, his eyes slanted in a familiar smirk. "…Very well. I shall prove to you that I am ultimately not just pointing fingers and accusing." A cunning and amused glint passed through his eyes.

"You, Eric, are a very rare occurrence in this industry. An "honest man", I believe. Engaged to a nice woman from your home town as well. You've fought your way to the top of your career using entirely legitimate terms, and ultimately, you are one who shall be spared." Eric was aghast at Mor'gul accurate little reading of his life, but excited at the same time to be in the presence of such a figure. Mor'gul's eyes slowly turned towards the camera, and a dark glare settled upon them.

"Your cameraman, however…" The camera tilted ever so slightly to the side as the man holding it adjusted his head. "I can see now… he was formerly a suspect in a serial rape case. eleven women assaulted and beaten in similar fashions over a period of three years, four of which did not survive. One other committed suicide." The camera shook. "He was acquitted, and the case left unsolved. Not enough evidence, I suppose. However, he was responsible for all of those attacks. He was smart enough to use one of those things you humans have… a "condom", I believe… Didn't leave behind any genetic evidence. My divine sight allows me to see right through him, however. He is exactly the kind of man that will be slaughtered."

The camera clattered to the floor and spun, facing the running cameraman. Mor'gul's voice echoed behind it.

"Bahbask… punish him." A splatter of blood hit the camera, and the vision was obstructed. An agonizing scream wracked the air, and the voice of Eric began to frantically babble at the acts he was seeing. Suddenly, the camera was in the air. Mor'gul's thumb cleaned the blood off of the camera, the view returning to show a cowering Eric and Mor'gul staring up at the camera with a devious smile as he licked the blood off of his thumb.

"To those of Capital City… you have two days to evacuate. Those of you who wish to stay may do so, but know that you are endangering yourself, for we will take that city in two day's time. When the battle is over, you may choose to return to your homes. If you do, you will become citizens of my order, free of registration. You will no longer be citizens of this country. For without question, we shall win."

Tails paused the tape. "…He's playing this really smart… None of the other villains we've had to face have done _this…_

Knuckles looked at Tails quizzically. "Huh? What's he doing?"

"He's launching a political campaign against this country, declaring himself a separate one publicly." Shadow exclaimed as it all sunk in. "He's not just aiming for our weaknesses, he's aiming for our strengths as well! His talk of religions and mercy and "divine judgment" will eventually turn the people themselves against their government. Without people, a government is worthless."

Skaar clenched his fist. "He's hiding behind a façade of spirituality… The Mor'gul I know has nothing but death on his mind! He has no right to make these lies!"

Luna snorted. "Like that's going to stop him…"

Sonic sat up. "Well, more importantly for now, what is he going to Capital City? That, and what the heck is the Nine Lords?"

Skaar shook his head cautiously. "I think of it as a cult. I will explain later, but right now, we need a plan."

Tails sighed. "But what can we do…?"

* * *

Bad way to end the chapter, but that's all you're g-*thump* *Shnore*


	32. Preparation

Yo peeps. I know I haven't updated in a while. I've actually had this done for a loooong time, but a strange and insane string of circumstances has kept me away from not only this site, but the internet in general for a long period of time. Oh well... sorry I'm so late, hopefully now that I'm in the new school semester I'll be able to update more regularly.

* * *

_Recap; _Sonic sat up. "Well, more importantly for now, what is he going to Capital City? That, and what the heck is the Nine Lords?"

Skaar shook his head cautiously. "I think of it as a cult. I will explain later, but right now, we need a plan."

Tails sighed. "But what can we do…?"

* * *

The tall, ovular figure towered over the darkened hospital bed. "So, what are you doing, calling a _brilliant_ scientist such as myself so late at night?"

Rouge's shadowed figure weakly leaned forward in an attempt to sit up. "I don't know or care how brilliant you are, but you do have one talent that no one else- not even Tails- could surpass you in."

Eggman's thick eyebrows raised in interest. "Hm? And what would that be?"

Instead of continuing however, Rouge abruptly change the subject. "Are you going to be taking part in the Capital City battle tomorrow?"

Eggman crossed his arms and smirked arrogantly. "Well, if I don't do my part against these people you all are so afraid of every here and there, the government will cut my funding…"

Rouge nodded. "I'll take that as a yes." She rested her head back on the pillow again, sighing in exhaustion. "Well, I have a proposition for you that you may find interesting."

Eggman smiled, already perceiving what it was. "Oh…?"

"I need to be ready for that battle tomorrow, Eggman. It's the only chance I may get for a long time to… Even the score." He hand subconsciously brushed over her ruined face. "I… I need to be roboticized."

Eggman laughed that maniacal laugh of his. "Oh-HOHOHO! I think that's the first time in a while that someone has _willingly_ let me work on them!" He stroked his substantial moustache in a devious, thoughtful manner. "But of course, to do it so quickly… it will require a lot of effort to have you functioning at full capacity in six hours, you know."

"Of course, you will be rewarded if I like what has been done- and believe me, I'll be checking for any form of altered brain activity. I'm not letting you implant some mind-controlling bug in my brain."'

The moustache stroking stopped for a moment, but continued shortly thereafter. "So then, I can decide between a loyal subject like you and some vague "repayment"? Not a hard task, Rouge, not a hard task."

Rouge shook her head weakly in annoyance. "Fine… when you're done and I'm confident you haven't ruined my mind, I'll wire you the combination to my GUN expense account. I'll change the number in about two weeks."

Eggman grinned widely. "That's a bit more of an incentive!"

* * *

A figure slid from shadow to shadow in the abandoned parking garage, making his way down the levels. This was Capital City, one of the most well-known and industrious metropolises in the free world. Right now, it was in panic. Almost half of the city had already evacuated in anticipation of the attack to come, which according to the news channels, was due just the next morning. Even so apparently, it would seem that the terrorists involved were making… preparations.

Espio paused in his downward descent, glancing outside through the large slots in the walls common in above ground parking garages. It was a beautiful sunset… Pity it was being so wasted. Today was quite tumultuous, and he doubted that very many people in this time zone were wasting the time to look. He wondered if the sunset had fallen so peacefully on Sonicteam, for in that time zone, the night had long taken dominance over the skies.

He clicked his teeth quietly in annoyance as he heard a crackle in his left ear. "Hey Espio! You in yet?" The outrageous voice of his team leader, Vector, belted out. Espio pressed the earpiece down in an attempt to make his voice clearer, and quietly responded.

"Yes. The first three levels are clear. I'm working my way down." With the city in such a crazed state, the local GUN branch was having trouble keeping all of its ends tied. The place was severely understaffed as it was, but this kind of panic certainly didn't help. So, for the first time in a long time, Team Chaotix was taking a government contract. Sonic and his friends were probably on their way, but it would be tomorrow by the time they got there. Chaotix HQ, fortunately, based a little bit closer. Their mission; while GUN organized the evacuation and prepared defenses, Chaotix was to make their way through the city and stop any plans for a pre-emptive attack.

Their sources had led them here. A GUN helicopter had dropped Espio on the roof, while Vector waited by the underground entrance to go in, Charmy impatiently hovering nearby. Espio cautiously made his way down the next car ramp, finally descending to the ground floor. To the immediate eye, this seemed to be a pretty stupid place to launch an attack. And empty parking garage? Please. However, this specific parking garage just so happened to be next to Capital City's GUN HQ. Blowing this out would knock all GUN assistance out of the picture until more troops were sent from the "home base", wherever that was. GUN was mysterious like that.

"Ground floor clear. If there's anything, it's going to be on the underground level. Get ready, guys." Another crackle, followed by Vector's nonspecific confirmation. As Espio slowly made his way down the next ramp, he started to hear mumbling, steadily growing louder. Peeking around the corner, he saw a figure in a dull green hooded robe, crouched over a small stone sphere with deep lines and intricate markings riddling it. He seemed to be reading from some sort of scroll, possibly initializing some sort of spell. As Espio drew closer, sliding between the foundation pillars quietly, his words became more defined.

"Argh… How do you…?" The figure flipped the scroll over, reading it upside down. "What? "Insert rod A into slot B"… Where the heck is slot B on this thing? It's covered in occult spells, how am I supposed to know a slot from a letter?"

Espio blinked. _Er… not exactly an occult spell…_

The figure pulled three small gray stone rods out of his sleeves, hesitantly slipping them into three holes around the circumference of the sphere, each equidistant from the other two. "Er… I hope this thing doesn't blow up in my face or anything…"

Espio quietly pressed in his earpiece once again. "Vector, hostile has been confirmed. Better get ready for a fight…" The figure's ears twitched and he looked around slowly. His facial fur was a rather boring brown.

_He has good hearing…_Espio leaned his head out from behind his present pillar, secure in the knowledge that he couldn't be seen in his camouflage. The figure stared in his basic direction for a few minutes, but eventually went back to tinkering with his orb. He twisted the orb down the center line, which in turn made the rods sticking out split in half and separate. The more he twisted, the farther apart the two halves and their respective pieces of pole got as the top half of the orb, like a screw coming out of wood, slowly rotated out on a drill-like axis.

"Rgh…" It soon became too hard for the figure to twist the orb further, and he released it. It hovered in place, seemingly suspended by the extremely fast motion of the two halves and their rods spinning back towards each other on the axis. They connected in the center with a loud crack, and a bright blue light emanated from the deep cracks and lines in the orb. Each of the halves of the rods split yet again, this time vertically, and folded inwards and upwards towards the half they were connected to. Eventually, they formed a diamond-like shape around the glowing orb. The figure smiled as he admired the floating diamond. "Theeeree we go…"

Espio pulled back around the corner. "Alright, move in. He seems to have activated some sort of… I don't know, bomb maybe."

"Okay, I know someone's in here. I hope you liked the display, but it's probably best if you come out now."

Espio peeked around the pillar again at the sound of the voice. _Very good hearing… _The figure was staring right at him, if not off to the side by a little. He had a carefree smile on his face, and one eye seemed to be slightly covered by a pointed ear.

"It's pretty rude to eavesdrop, you know. At least come out and make introductions…"

_So much for the element of surprise._Espio stepped out slowly, letting his camouflage fade away.

"Hi there. Sooo…" The figure scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm Indemnis. Nice to meet you."

Espio raised an eyebrow quizzically, before responding cautiously. "…Espio."

Indemnis laughed. "Well, now we're acquainted! So, what has you sneaking around so suspiciously, Espio?"

"Uh…" Indemnis' attitude was not exactly what he had expected from an alleged terrorist. Espio's eyes floated to the diamond behind Indemnis. "What is that thing?"

Indemnis laughed again, pulling his hood down with bandaged hands. His head and face was in all ways plain. He was devoid of any unattractive qualities, but likewise, the only thing that could be considered an "attractive" trait about him was the boyish charm he seemed to have. His ears were large and catlike, and popped up like springs as soon as the weight of the hood was off of them. "I asked you first."

Espio looked to the ramp to the next floor. _What's keeping Vector and Charmy?_ "Fine. I'm here to stop whatever you and your allies are doing."

Indemnis looked down at the ground, stroking the fur on his chin. "Oh… That's a problem… I guess that thing Mor'gul did a couple days ago earned us a little too publicity." He shook his head and laughed again. "Oh well! I guess Mor'gul will like the challenge."

Espio slowly reached for one of his shuriken, keeping Indemnis talking to keep him distracted. "Now then, it's your turn to answer my question."

Indemnis blinked. "Huh? Oh." He turned back to the floating object, glancing at it for just a moment. "Well, I've never seen one of these myself, but Lord Cosa told me that it is some sort of… I don't know, rift? It's not open yet."

"I can't let that get open-" Espio heard a crackle in his ear once again.

"Esp-! Hey, it's Vector! Er, we- problem here…" The signal cut out for good right then. Espio tapped his ear curiously.

"That's an odd thing to do at a time like this… Hard of hearing?" Espio looked back at Indemnis at the sound of his voice. He was met with the same smile that seemed to always be on the boy's face.

"…Hm… As I said, I cannot let you go through with whatever you plan on doing."

"Well, Espio, I have every intention of following though with my orders. Orders are orders, after all…" The two stood, staring at each other for at least another minute. "…Well?"

Espio charged quickly, throwing several shuriken at his target. Indemnis just barely slipped to the side, his hand flailing out towards Espio as he lost his balance. "Whoa there!" Espio met his target, swinging out his shoulder to add force to a roundhouse punch aimed at Indemnis' head. There was a resounding smack, and Indemnis fell sideways. He rolled about a foot before landing flat on his back.

Espio looked at Indemnis dully._**This **__is what we're dealing with?_

Indemnis sat up, blinking a little. "Huh."

Espio looked at Indemnis quizzically. _A blow to the head like that should have at __**least**__ stunned him a little…_

Indemnis stood up, brushing himself off a little. "Er, when you punch… Don't you make a fist?" Indemnis clenched and unclenched his hand in emphasis. "Besides… that was a bit too "flail-y" for a punch, just swinging your arm limply like that."

_Huh?_Espio looked down at his right hand, and willed it to flex experimentally. No such luck. His hand was limp. Likewise, the rest of his arm muscles were not capable of contracting or loosening. His eyes shot up to Indemnis curiously. "What did you do to me?" Indemnis calmly pointed to Espio's shoulder, giggling a little at Espio's frustration. Espio glanced down slowly.

On first glance, there seemed to be nothing really wrong. As he looked closely though, he could see little bumps here and there, right where the shoulder met the arm. He touched one lightly, and a twinge of pain went down his arm. _What the…?_ With a yank, he tore one out. It was not a bump, but a needle, dug almost all the way through his arm. _How did…? No, impossible._ He slowly pulled out another needle, and a tingling sensation went down his arm. _I didn't even feel these go in…_ Looking down, he could see that including the ones in his hand, there were fourteen total.

Indemnis smiled wider. "Isn't it so cool how the body works? It's AMAZING what you can do!" He looked off to the side with a slightly odd facial expression. "Well, with the right training that is…" He reached into his sleeve, pulling out another four needles.

Espio was still staring at his arm in shock. _What did he do?_ As he continued to pull out the needles, his arm started to "wake up", like when you have been laying on it for a long time and finally get up.

"Curious?" Indemnis chuckled. His wrist twisted, and the needles flashed through the air. All four stabbed right through Espio's wrist in a close, horizontal line. Almost instantly, his hand became numb again.

_He stabbed them through my wrist, but he didn't hit the bone… He even threw one right between the bones, just above where they fuse._

"The body is riddled with nerves. It's like a web. Nerves are basically run by brain signals, which are usually electrical. My needles are made of an extremely conductive ore found only where I come from, and can literally suck up electrical currents from not only the nerves they strike, but any nerves nearby." Indemnis leaned back against the wall behind him lazily, fingering the slowly rotating diamond of energy beside him. There was no arrogance, pride, or even excitement in his voice. He sounded like he was having a conversation with an old, but ignorant friend. "Well, not "suck up", really… you know, it just draws it in better. I've never been good with words…"

Espio pulled the needles out again. "Very well, I guess I'll just have to keep you up close." With a quick dive forward, Espio once again found himself in front of his target. However, this time Indemnis saw it coming. A punch connected with Espio's cheek, making him recoil.

Calmly, Espio wiped a trail of blood from his lip. "That was a good punch… Even so; it was only strong by human standards."

Indemnis shrugged. "Er… can't be good at everything, can you?" Once again, their eyes locked. "Hm…" A few more needles slid out of his sleeves. "Well, Lord Cosa awaits my report, and Lord Mor'gul has promised to assist me with my practice…" With a quick forward lunge, he stabbed the needles out at Espio like a punch. Espio easily weaved past the strike. His elbow connected with Indemnis' chin with a resounding crack. The force of the blow lifted him off of the ground, and he fell on his back loudly.

Espio calmly stepped over Indemnis, who from the look on his face was unquestionably unconscious. Suddenly, with what seemed to be the worst and most horribly timed entrance in quite a while, the remaining members of his team came barging down the ramp to the ground level.

"Espio!" Vector exclaimed. "You okay?!?"

Espio looked at them calmly. "Better off than you two." Anyone who could see them would agree. Vector was covered in various scratches and bruises, and even Charmy looked like he had taken a few hits from something. "What the hell happened?"

Vector blinked. "Er… Honestly, I have no idea!"

Charmy hovered close to Vector's shoulder. "Some weird guys just jumped us! We barely kept 'em off!!!"

"Yeah, it was really weird! All of a sudden, they just left. Charmy was just in the middle of stabbing at this one guy, but he suddenly just disappeared. I was pretty surprised, so I turned over to look, and next thing I know, the two guys I was fighting were gone too."

Espio scratched the side of his scaly head. "Odd…"

Charmy finally set down, landing right on top of Vector's head. "Yeah, and they were all wearing these big cloak things too, so we don't even know what they look like."

Vector futilely tried to wave the bee off of his skull, but didn't really seem to care all that much. "Well, obviously they didn't want us intruding with what your guy was doing." He scratched at his earphones awkwardly. "Uh, what was he doing, anyway?"

Espio looked at Indemnis calmly, before gesturing to the floating orb behind him. "I don't really know. Apparently, that device of his was some sort of rift generator. Rift is a pretty vague word… maybe it was some sort of trans-dimensional bomb, or maybe it was for pulling out reinforcements. Either way, we have it now."

Charmy looked down at Indemnis from his reptilian perch. "…He dead?"

Espio sighed. "Of course not, Charmy. Do you see any fatal wounds?"

Vector stooped down, lifting Indemnis into the air and easily throwing him on his shoulder. "Great! We have ourselves a hostage then!"

Cautiously, Espio approached the floating diamond. _Hm… how do you close this?_ He twisted it slightly with a small click, aligning the rods' pieces together horizontally. Quickly, the diamond retracted and the pieces reconnected, and the sphere within fell lifelessly to the ground, the now intact rods sliding out of the holes and dropping to the ground. "Okay, we've got this thing…" He pulled out a pack and slowly slipped the orb and the rods into it.

Vector smirked and made a thumbs-up. "Okay, mission accomplished! Now to return to GUN, and get us a bounty!" He turned back towards the ramp and strutted towards it, his captive's unconscious head bouncing off of his scaly back. Espio watched Indemnis' head wave around for a while, thinking back on their battle. Eventually he came to his senses and slipped the pack on, following his teammates.

_Such an amateur._

* * *

Welp, y'all know the drill. Read, review, etc. Something I do want to explain though; As you may notice looking back at my first chapter, when Charmy makes his first appearance, I have drastically regulated my warped opinion of his spastic personality. This is on purpose. Near the beginning, I tried to deliberately take a kind of childlike, possibly even exsaggerated look to the series, even when Skaar killed those people. Now that the Nine Lords have been introduced as the main villians however, my style of writing is going to be a bit more... rational. A lot of the childlike characters are going to have to mentally grow up if they wish to survive my twisted subconscious. Basically, they are here to tear the Sonic characters out of the kind of mentality that Sega portrays them as having. How they do so, well... that's going to be the fun part. (_WILD CACKLING!!!)_

Also, how many people actually CARE that I rated it M for gore? It's like the least important part of the ESRB rating system, and sex/swearing/drug use leave it in the dust. Besides, it's pretty hard to convey true gore without actual images. If you can picture what I write accurately, then your mind is already corrupted, and there's no one you can blame but yourself if you're offended.


	33. The war for preservation 1

So, guess what? Yeah, there's going to be a lot of those horizontal ruler things I use to separate things over the next few chapters. Lotsa POVs to keep track of. In other news... Sorry about missing last week, but I was sick. Hopefully I'll have another chap in a week though and be able to get back in the weekly updating game. Anyhoo, you all know what belongs to who. Enjoy!

Or don't.

Whatever.

_

* * *

_

_Recap;_ Espio watched Indemnis' head wave around for a while, thinking back on their battle. Eventually he came to his senses and slipped the pack on, following his teammates.

_Such an amateur._

* * *

Lord Amals the stoat sat rigidly on a stool directly across from some sort of pulsating portal, appearing as if ready to cringe in fear at any moment. Lord Bahbask stood next to him, making no attempts to be comfortable and staring emptily at the portal. Muffled yelling grew closer in the background. Suddenly, the double doors to the large room burst open, exclaiming the arrival of Koŕak.

"Mor'gul, you are not _my_ master, and you will not treat me as such!" Mor'gul followed the irate ram into the room with a rather bored manner.

He sighed. "Koŕak, one of the Lords of Destruction has been charged to remain in case of attack. Face it Koŕak, _you_ are the best choice."

Koŕak sat down heavily on a much larger stool across from Amals, who gave a very visible start and screamed something in an unknown language in surprise.

Everyone glanced skeptically at Amals, who only twitched a little, looked at Koŕak, and slowly twisted his head back towards the portal, muttering psychotically.

Koŕak shook his head and returned his gaze to Mor'gul. "Bah, and who are you to decide? You are only the _Ninth_ lord, not the entire counsel of them!"

A third voice rung out from outside the room. "Koŕak, the Ninth lord is the wartime general of the other lords, only answerable to me, the greater demon, or the council in times of military action. He has every right to command you." The young pine marten walked into the room calmly, casting a quick glare to Mor'gul. "Besides, for once I agree on his decision."

Koŕak nervously cast his eyes downwards, looking at the young boy's feet. "Yes, lord." He stood up and stepped out of the room, closing the doors behind him.

Mor'gul nodded to the child calmly. "Thank you Lord Cosa. I expect I find you well?" His smile was real, but his eyes glowed with hunger.

Cosa waved the crazed face away exhaustingly. "Spare yourself, mutt. I am not susceptible to your little games."

Mor'gul continued to smile, but let it fade from hungry to quietly bemused. "Of course. Your duties would be rather hard to carry out otherwise." Lord Cosa glared. "So then, I assume that your presence here means that you are coming?"

The boy nodded his head, adjusting the hood of his monk robe. "Yes, Mor'gul. My messenger, Indemnis, has disappeared. I shall have to find him and activate the Srin'kḩ myself."

Mor'gul smirked quietly. "One of your rank should go with a bodyguard, eh?"

Mor'gul's hated superior waved a dismissive hand. "I am not going to call upon the members of the council below me as you so stupidly have. I am going to take Aira and Charon with me, as soon as I can find them. Until then, you are to prepare and wait for the final attack." His eyes narrowed at Mor'gul. "I expected Koŕak to fail since it was a part of your plan for him to do so, but you will _not_ fail me here. If you weren't so busy playing around with those heroes, we could have had this city days ago."

Lord Cosa turned on his heel and walked out. Mor'gul chuckled and bowed flourishingly at his back. "Oh, there will be no failure on _my_ end."

* * *

With a resounding crack, like lightning, a circular rift appeared within the GUN outpost. Everything that it touched as it expanded was cut through cleanly as if by a laser regardless of material. The rift boiled outwards with pitch darkness, causing fear and nausea to strike the men watching the spectacle. Suddenly with a flash, it was gone. In its place stood eight figures, ranging in height from a doll to a man.

Lord Amals sniffed the air distastefully. "Eugh. I-I-I can smell their filth…" His voice was wavering and nervous, and hid none of his apparent mania.

Aira sighed in a slightly irritable fashion. "Oh Amals, for once just shut up."

Lord Cosa sighed as well. "Can we get this going now, or are you just going to sit and let your subordinates mumble insanely, Mor'gul?"

Mor'gul smiled down at Cosa and patted his head, which Cosa did not like. "Very well, Very well. Charon?"

The GUN soldiers who were manning the outpost all exchanged looks with each other. These guys, whoever they were, were obviously insane. The officer in charge was just about to order an arrest when the entire outpost exploded from the inside out with searing heat. Stepping through the charred bodies lightly, the eight emerged near the entrance.

"Thank you, Charon." The chao nodded at Mor'gul's compliment. "Now then… You all know why you are here, so I suggest you all get to work."

Lord Cosa broke off, heading south. "This way, Aila. Charon, leave your two subordinates with Mor'gul- he is not trusted in the council." Charon shrugged, before gesturing to Mor'gul to his bodyguards. Garna and Anubis walked over to him slowly.

Mor'gul smiled at the newcomers. "Welcome to the party, as it were."

Garna snorted. "Huh. That's nice." Like Charon, his voice was deceptively deep.

Mor'gul looked at the horizon quietly, also reserving some glances to the lords and chao around him. As of this moment, the war had begun.

* * *

With a frantic dive, Vector pinned Espio and Charmy to the building behind him as a wayward tank shell exploded above. Glass shards from the concussive blast striking the building rained down on the crocodile's scales, making a sound reminiscent of ice tapping against the inside of a crystal glass. He blinked a few times and shook the remaining glass off of his shoulders.

Espio shoved him back lightly, standing up and brushing himself off. "A little dramatic there?"

Vector winked. "Hey, out of the two of us, which one has the harder scales? You'd have gotten all chopped up if not for me!"

Espio shrugged. "Fair enough."

Charmy flew up and sat on Vector's shoulder. "That was AWESOME!"

Vector scratched his head awkwardly. "Aww…" He looked to the horizon, seeing another building going down in the distance. "I hope that the others get here soon…"

Espio nodded. "So do I. Come on, we need to find one of these guys attacking." As if to answer the statement, another explosion resounded as the wall to the left of them exploded in a burst of rubble. Along with the explosion, a decapitated head flew past, its empty eyes floating over the Chaotix Team. The three of them stood, still stunned by the blast, as a short and ominous figure emerged. It was a small, black clad man, his pasty gray and heavily wrinkled skin only visible through the slot in which his pale eyes glowed. Blood dripped heavily from his sleeves, where it could be assumed that his hands were retracted. For a moment, he seemed to not notice them. Then his eyes locked with theirs, and a feeling of cold emptiness washed over the lot of them.

"I'm guessing he's a bad guy." Vector whispered, as if it made a difference if he heard them or not.

Espio looked at Vector skeptically. "Really? You think so? Huh. Couldn't tell."

"Shut up." Vector mumbled halfheartedly. "Well, it looks like we've got a fight ahead of us…" The figure stared at them for another minute before turning away, seemingly gliding off. Vector took a half-step forward "Hey!" The figure did not stop. Vector started after it, waving for Espio to follow. "Come on, we can't let him just get away!"

Espio started after them, glancing down the small hallway of destruction the little man had left. He saw a flash of movement. "Uh, Vector?"

The Team Chaotix Leader skidded to a stop. "What?!?"

Espio gestured for him to return this time. "There's someone over here… Might be a survivor, or another enemy."

Charmy looked between Espio and the calmly retreating figure rapidly. "Aww, Vector! We can't let him get awaaaay!!!"

"Fine!" Vector growled. "Espio, you stay here and check whatever that is out!" He darted after the figure as quickly as his physique would allow, skidding out of sight as he rounded a corner to take a shortcut.

Espio turned back to the smoking trail of destruction calmly. "Huh…" _Sonic and the others better get here soon…_ he slid down the path stealthily, blending in with the smoke and dust. Upon popping out the other side of the rubble, he found himself in an open square, relatively untouched. It was more or less abandoned, save for a single figure. He was crouched over something, smiling giddily.

"You there!"

The pale-furred man jumped to his feet wildly, arms flailing in an attempt to regain balance as he whirled about stupidly at the sound of Espio's voice. "AAAAH!" His dull red eyes darted about wildly, finally settling upon Espio as the chameleon revealed himself. "Eh- Er, Uh... Wh-"

Espio held up a hand to silence the inane babble. "Sorry if I scared you. What's your name?"

The man's eyes darted about as he recovered himself and stood his full height. He was extremely tall for an anthro. "Em-uh… I-I-I am Amals." He cringed as an explosion rang in the distance.

Espio looked at the lanky figure with a bit of bored resignment. _Just some crazy survivor I guess…_ "What are you doing here, Amals?"

Amals smiled. "I-I-I'm watching t-the bugs!!!" He smiled a twitchy, crazy smile. "They eat and eat and eat… and then they die! That's it!!!" He smiled and crouched down again, turning back towards the bugs and gesturing for Espio to follow.

Espio walked over cautiously, standing behind Amals and looking over his shoulder. A dead child's face stared back at him, thousands of tiny little ant-like creatures he had never seen before skittering across her corpse. They peeled away the flesh slowly with tiny mandibles and harvested dripping chunks of it. Even more sickening was the presence of a slowly expanding hole in her gut, where they were carving it out to inhabit it and establish a colony. _Ugh…_ _This guy…_ He felt something touch the outside of his thigh, and looked down. Two extremely long scabbards peeked out of the back of Amal's robes, and one was touching his side.

Amals licked his lip in a manner suggesting hunger. "They tear away her skin and suck her dry in a matter of hours! And then, you know what they do next?" He looked up at Espio almost innocently. "D-Do you?" Espio shook his head slowly, still aghast at what he was seeing. "Well, once they've eaten the body out, they pull the soul right out of the bones!!! Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!!" The sucking noise at the end was just a little too much for Espio, and he jumped back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

Amals looked at him curiously. "I-I'm only feeding my friends… D-Don't you?" He stood up slowly, pulling out a small jar with more of the bugs in it. "I haven't gotten to f-f-feed these ones yet…" sliding the jar back into his sleeve, he smiled crazily. "Heeeheeee… You look tasty!!!"

* * *

Shadow stepped off of the Tornado quickly, ever so glad to be on the ground. The ride there had been… cramped. He saw Sonic and Knuckles getting off out of the corner of his eye, and smirked at their chatter.

"Harhar, Sonic, I hope you had fun, 'cause I'm not letting you sit in my lap again! I don't swing that way."

"Jeez, you think I was having FUN up there?!? I only ended up in your lap after I flew out of my own seat after that big bump!" Knuckles laughed, and Sonic stomped off a few paces grumbling about "fixing the seatbelts".

Shadow felt an easily recognizable presence nearby and turned, meeting Skaar eye-to-eye. "Skaar."

"Shadow." Skaar stopped, grabbing Shadow's wrist and lifting it up a little. "As they say in this world Shadow, you're about to get a "crash course"." Suddenly, Shadow felt as if he were floating. He nervously looked down at his feet, but they were on the ground. Looking slowly at his wrists, he saw the dark rings around them crack and break away. He felt the same happen to his ankles. He wasn't floating, he was just infinitely lighter!

Shadow experimentally rubbed his wrist, finally able to get complete blood flow going. "Wow, this feels so… different."

Skaar nodded to him. "Be careful, you are not yet used to this body of yours. You will have to figure it out on your own." He went to walk away, before stopping and looking back at Shadow slightly nervously. "Er… try to avoid _jumping_."

Shadow raised a quisitive eyebrow. "Uh, Jumping…?"

Skaar half nodded. "Don't jump."

* * *

Well, felt that that was a goofy place to end it, so end it I did!

So, why didn't Team Chaotix recognize Lord Bahbask and Lord Amals? Well, as I touch on next time, their cable's out. Charmy's very sad about this.

See ya'll next time I post.


End file.
